Ahmedabad, February 22 – Google CEO Sundar Pichai was among the prominent attendees at the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Super Eights match between India and South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday evening.
Pichai, who heads Google and its parent company Alphabet, joined ICC Chairman Jay Shah in the stands for one of the tournament's marquee fixtures, which was also a rematch of the 2024 edition final. Pichai also participated in the pre-match proceedings, carrying the T20 World Cup trophy onto the field alongside former India captain Sunil Gavaskar.
Pichai's presence came as part of Google's role as an official partner of the ongoing tournament, highlighting the growing collaboration between global technology leaders and the international cricket arena.
Pichai, who was born in Madurai, later joined former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri during the mid-innings break and spoke about his lifelong passion for the sport and the influence of Gavaskar on his early years as a cricket fan.
"Sunny (Gavaskar) was a huge inspiration to me. I used to have the Sportstar poster on my wall. I've been following the sport since I was very young. I used to listen to the commentary on the radio for the games in the West Indies with my grandfather, my uncle, and so on. I've always been passionate about the game," he said.
Other dignitaries present at the India-South Africa match included ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta, legendary wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni and his wife Sakshi, and Bollywood choreographer-director Farah Khan. As of now, the official attendance for the match is 90,954.
Earlier in the evening, South Africa posted 187/7 in their 20 overs after electing to bat first, with David Miller (63), Dewald Brevis (45) and Tristan Stubbs (44 not out) being the aggressors. Jasprit Bumrah starred for India with figures of 3-15, while Arshdeep Singh took 2-28.
