India women will next face Bangladesh and Australia in group stage.
Former India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav drew parallels with Team India’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 win to motivate the Indian women’s team after they lost to South Africa in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 tournament in England and Wales.
In her 200th T20I on Sunday, Harmanpreet Kaur had a challenging performance as South Africa women defeated India by six wickets at Old Trafford in Manchester. India's first defeat of the tournament came against South Africa, following a successful start against Pakistan and the Netherlands.
It's interesting to note that the Indian Men's team lost to South Africa by 76 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad earlier this year before winning the T20 World Cup 2026 championship.
India became the first team to successfully defend the Men's T20 World Cup title, thanks in large part to Suryakumar Yadav's leadership.
After giving that effort some thought, he said that the women's squad could succeed similarly.
“Kuch mahine hi purani baat hai. T20 World Cup me SA se harne ke baad kya hota hai, whole world knows. Stick tight, be fearless. Ho jaega. Jai Hind. (It's only been a few months. Everyone knows what happened after losing to South Africa in the T20 World Cup. Stick together, be fearless. It will happen. Jai Hind),” Suryakumar wrote on Instagram.