Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya won his third ICC title after the 2024 T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy when he helped the Men in Blue clinch the 2026 T20 World Cup title on Sunday with a 96-run win against New Zealand. With the win, India became the only team to defend the T20 World Cup title and also the first team to win the title on home soil.
“Absolutely special. always wanted to win trophies. Can’t get any better than winning in my home state. very satisfied, many more to come. This is done, now many more to come. Full life circle to be pretty honest. Just when I went up right now I was like this is the same kid who came from Baroda has won so many trophies in my life which I could not fathom. I couldn’t have not been able to process that 10 years down the line, I would be sitting here, being the most senior player in the team and at the same point of time winning 3 ICC trophies and 5 IPLs,” Hardik said in a video posted by bcci.tv.
“I said the same thing in 2024 that it is just a start, I said the same thing after the Champions Trophy that it’s just the start and IO would say the same thing (here) that it’s just the start. Half of my career is done, half more to go. Winning trophies is Hardik Pandya’s best habit. Generally I think I am not good at winning. I win and then I move on so for me, this is done and now next is winning the 2027 World Cup, the gold medal Olympics and as many trophies post that,” he added.
𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙠 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙮𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙨 🏆
🎥 A candid chat as he reflects on his 3️⃣rd ICC title following #TeamIndia‘s triumphant #T20WorldCup 2026 🙌#MenInBlue | @hardikpandya7 https://t.co/V6T2dKoFTh
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 10, 2026
In the tournament, Pandya scored two half-centuries with the bat, including a 52 off 28 balls against Namibia, and produced devastating spells when it mattered to end the event with nine wickets in all.
The 32-year-old Pandya is one of the four Indian players included in ICC’s Team of the 2026 T20 World Cup. Pandya was equally good with both bat and ball in the last edition of the tournament, picking up 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.64 and scoring 144 runs at an average of 48.00.
