Suryakumar waged a lone battle with the bat in India's T20 World Cup 2026 opener.
Suryakumar Yadav waged a lone battle with the bat as India kicked off their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a 29-run victory over the USA at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday (February 7).
Invited to bat first, the Men in Blue were reeling at 46/4 at the end of the powerplay, with Abhishek Sharma (0), Ishan Kishan (20), Tilak Varma (25) and Shivam Dube (0) back in the hut. The scorecard soon turned 77/6 as Rinku Singh (6) and Hardik Pandya (5) failed to make a mark as well.
Amid the collapse, Suryakumar held the one end firmly and found a bit of support from Axar Patel (14). After completing his half-century off 36 balls, the Indian skipper put a pedal on the accelerator. He was particularly severe on Saurabh Netravalkar, hitting the left-arm seamer for two fours and two sixes in the final over to finish with 84 not out off 49 balls.
Thanks to Surya’s knock, the defending champions posted a competitive total of 161/9 on the board. In the second innings, the entire Indian bowling unit stepped up and restricted USA to 132/8 in 20 overs.
Following the match, Suryakumar admitted that he was under immense pressure in the middle but relied on experience from Mumbai’s maidans.
He noted the Wankhede wicket was challenging due to lack of sunlight for preparation, stating that India could have batted smarter by forming small partnerships.
“Only I can tell actually at the position which we were in, 77 for 6, how much pressure I was feeling. But then at the same time, I had that belief that I have batted in similar situations. And also when I have played my lot of cricket here in Maidans of Mumbai cricket, Azad Maidan, Cross Maidan. So I knew that if I bat till the end, I can make a difference,” Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation.
“It was a little different wicket from what it is always at Wankhede. But at the same time, we knew when we woke up in the morning, we saw outside there wasn't a lot of sun outside. I think curator and the groundsmen, they tried their best to prepare the best pitch. But I think a few things are not in their control. So there wasn't enough sunlight to have that pitch rolled, watered. Maybe because of that, but we can't be brushing everything under the carpet. We could have batted a little better,” he added.
“I think after winning also, you get to learn a lot of things. And today we learned that we could have batted a little better or maybe a little smarter. Those small, small partnerships could have got us to 160 rather than one batter or two batter trying to play it till the end. But at the same time, it's okay. We sit around aaram se [sit relaxed], we have a lot of time, five days for the next game and we'll come back stronger,” he further remarked.
The captain also provided an update on Washington Sundar’s fitness and availability for India’s next Group A match against Namibia on February 12 in Delhi.
“Washi is joining us in Delhi. He's good. Everything is fine. Bumrah, he was having high fever due to because of weather, like how Abhishek was under the weather. But rest, everything is good,” Surya concluded.