India captain Suryakumar Yadav talked about dealing with the pressure of the Men in Blue being the favorites to win the T20 World Cup 2026, as it is being hosted in India. India will open their tournament on February 7, 2026, against the USA, with the match to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Suryakumar, 35, is poised to participate in his fourth T20 World Cup, and this one brings a new set of obstacles, expectations, questions, pressure, and the potential advantage of playing at home.
He may be judged mostly on how far India progresses in this World Cup or how many runs he scores in the coming month, especially if he does not play in the next T20 World Cup.
Suryakumar struggled with the bat in T20Is in 2025, failing to score a half-century in 23 innings. He has, however, reclaimed his form in style, scoring three fifties against New Zealand in the most recent Twenty20 International series.
Over the next four weeks, as India travels throughout the nation and to Colombo in an attempt to become the first team to win a third T20 World Cup trophy, the pressure of expectations for a championship defense and home World Cup campaign will remain.
Suryakumar didn't wait for someone to explain the difficulties he would face while captaining India in a home T20 World Cup.
"Yes, you are playing at home; you are expected to win the tournament the way you have been playing your cricket. No one has defended the title. No one has won on home soil. Yes, everything runs in everyone's mind. But at the same time, you have to be in the present as well. You have to see what you want to do on the given day, what kind of cricket you want to play. That is very important,” Suryakumar Yadav stated at the pre-match press conference, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"Just stay in the present. Have your feet where you are, stay grounded. Because when you are playing at home, you want to be more excited. You want to give people more than they expect. At that time, you might make a mistake. But I think staying in the present will be the key in this World Cup. Even though we go till the end, I think every game we play, we will have to be very relaxed and think about the game we are playing,” he added.
Suryakumar Yadav stated that playing an ICC tournament at home is always exciting and recalled the support the team got during the ICC World Cup 2023.
"See, as I said, playing on home soil, there's always excitement. I felt that when we played the ODI World Cup in 2023, crowds came in numbers, and people were having chats around when you were at the airport. So, it's a good thing. It gives you motivation all the time. But yeah, at the same time, it also brings a lot of responsibility that you are getting to lead such a wonderful side, that too in India, on home soil, starting at the Wankhede. So, the boys are very excited to take the field tomorrow, and I am sure there will be a lot of excitement,” he said.
"I think when you are playing at home, there is always an added pressure. I am not running away from the fact. To be honest, there will be nerves, and there will be pressure. But if you see the positive side of it, there will be a lot of cheer around. You are playing on home soil. You know there are people backing you,” he added.
India is coming into this T20 World Cup with an astonishing win-loss ratio in T20Is in the last 2-3 years. They have dominated teams in bilateral series, with a record-setting consecutive T20I series win.
"Talking about expectations, definitely the way we have played in the last one or two years, people must be expecting the same. And we will try giving them more reasons by staying on top, playing the same brand of cricket. There are so many people coming to watch the stadiums. I have told my boys the same thing. There are 30-35 thousand people coming, so many people watching at home. Let's give them a good time. Let's give them entertainment,” Surya concluded.
India has been placed in Group A with Pakistan, the Netherlands, the USA, and Namibia.
