Aurangabad (Bihar) [India], March 8 (ANI): Ahead of India's ICC T20 World Cup final against New Zealand, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan's grandfather, Anurag Pandey, expressed hope that the explosive hitter scores at least a half-century or a century in such a high-stakes encounter, helping his team come out victorious.

Team India will be gunning for their third ICC T20 World Cup title, while on the other hand, the Kiwis, the 2021 World Test Champions, will be eyeing their first-ever world title in limited-overs cricket.

Speaking to ANI, Anurag said, 'We wish him that he plays well and atleast scores 100 runs. Maybe at least above 50 runs. We wish the entire team to play well and win the trophy.'

Ishan has been India's top run-getter in the tournament so far and overall the seventh-highest with 263 runs in eight innings at an average of 32.87 and a strike rate of 189.20, with two fifties and a best score of 77.

Also, his childhood coach, Uttam Mazumdar, urged the wicketkeeper-batter to 'not just play the game, but also play for the entire country' and score a century so that his team can become champions.

'Today is a very special day. It is very important for all of India and its 140 crore (1.4 billion) people. I will say just one thing to Ishan: today, do not just play a game, play for the entire country. Play for those 140 crore people. Today, he has to score a hundred. If he scores a hundred today, the whole country can become champions. Team India needs to give its 200 per cent. I want to tell the entire team to give their best; all the bowlers must deliver their best performance, only then can we win,' he said to ANI.

Uttam expressed optimism that India would win because of the performances produced by them when it mattered the most, a five-wicket win while chasing 196 runs against West Indies in a virtual quarterfinal during the Super Eights phase and a close seven-run win over England while defending 254 runs despite a masterclass from Jacob Bethell. He also said that for that, the pair of Sanju Samson and Ishan will have to perform well.

'Not just 100 per cent, we will win 200 per cent because of the way we played in the quarter-finals and semi-finals to reach this final. There is no doubt about it. We will not only win today, but we will win by a large margin. Team India needs to perform well. Today, the pair of Ishan and Sanju Samson--who played so well in the semi-final and quarter-final--needs to play very well again. We are expecting Ishan to score a hundred today. Team India must bring home the World Cup trophy,' said Uttam.

He spoke on Ishan's return to the national set-up after two years away from it. Before this year, his last match for India was in 2023-end, following which his name was removed from the central contract due to an alleged lack of commitment to domestic cricket. However, by scoring runs across all formats in domestic cricket, the left-hander earned his way back into the squad. The standout moment was him top-scoring in Jharkhand's maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) campaign with 517 runs in 10 innings, with two centuries and two fifties.

Following his return to the Team India set-up as a secondary keeper-batter option for the T20WC, he sealed his place as a primary wicketkeeper-batter by top-scoring for India with 215 runs in four innings at an average of 53.75 and a strike rate of 231.18, with a century and a fifty.

'He has returned after a nearly two-year break. His journey restarted with domestic cricket, and as a captain, he led his team to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title. After that, he joined the World Cup squad and was the highest run-getter in the New Zealand series. From there, in this World Cup journey, we saw how he performed against Pakistan as well (scoring a counter-attacking 77 on a tough spin-friendly wicket). It is highly commendable. I want this performance to remain consistent today. By giving his best, Ishan should help the team become champions and make India the World Cup winner,' he added.

Uttam pointed out how Ishan's power-hitting, particularly his pull shot is 'special'. On a concluding note, he asked his pupil to play a 'responsible inning' for his side to help them to the trophy.

Squads: New Zealand Squad: Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Cole McConchie, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav. (ANI)