India on Sunday (March 8) scripted history as they became the first team to defend the T20 World Cup title, win it thrice and win it on home soil by beating New Zealand in the summit clash at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Following the triumph, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav declared that an Olympic gold medal is now the team's next target.
"The next goal is the Olympics. Olympic gold and also the T20 World Cup that year. Don't forget," Suryakumar said during the post-match press conference.
The Olympic Games will take place in Los Angeles in August 2028, while the next edition of the T20 World Cup will be played later that year in Australia and New Zealand.
Suryakumar was handed India’s T20I captaincy in July 2024 following Rohit Sharma’s retirement. Under his leadership, the Men in Blue didn’t drop a series or tournament leading up to the T20 World Cup.
Reflecting on the journey and sharing the feeling of winning the World Cup, Surya remarked: "It'll take a little bit of time to sink in. We have just come out of a game. It was a good game. Playing at home. When we wake up tomorrow and go back home, I don't know where we are going, but it will be a special feeling. Whatever happened in the last two years post 2024 T20 World Cup has been unbelievable and I don't know how to express it. It has been a wonderful journey."
"Obviously it has been a wonderful journey the last one month though it didn't start the way we wanted it to start. But then it's part of the sport. Throughout the journey till today, it has been very special and collectively as a team what we've achieved is in front of you," he added.
After losing the opening Super 8 clash to South Africa, India needed to win all their matches to lift the title and the team responded to the pressure brilliantly.
Suryakumar said their campaign gathered momentum after the Zimbabwe match at Chepauk.
"When we played in Chennai against Zimbabwe, I felt that we have started playing a different brand of cricket. I understood a little bit how to play going forward. And when I played the (virtual) quarterfinal against West Indies at the Eden Gardens, I felt that there was a different level of confidence in this team."
The Indian captain said his match-defining catch of David Miller in the 2024 T20 World Cup final changed his life and he immediately set his sight on the silverware after being appointed captain.
"That catch changed my life completely. Because that was a moment of the tournament. And then after that, when I started leading this amazing team, it was a very special feeling because I knew that we were going to play the World Cup in India after two years.
"And no team has ever won in India. And when you play T20 World Cup or any tournament in India, there is a different vibe, a different excitement. So I started telling everyone when we started playing bilaterally that you should be excited that when you play in India in the T20 World Cup, people will have expectations from you, they will talk to you, you will enjoy it more.
"So with that excitement we started that journey. And the way we played in the T20 World Cup, the way we wanted to play and the way we won this trophy, that is part of that excitement. So it has been a very beautiful journey. And hopefully, this continues."
India have been playing fearless brand of cricket under his leadership, and Surya made it clear that their approach won’t change.
"Everything was changed post 2024. We played a different brand of cricket in 2024 and from there we understood how this team needs to work forward, play forward.
"And it's been a wonderful journey since. We won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025, played a completely different brand of cricket, and now in 2026, we wanted to do something special in front of the home crowd right here. We want to continue doing that 27 - 28 - 29 and never stop."
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
