India started their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a hard-fought 29-run win over the United States at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 7, and the biggest reason behind the win was a quiet but powerful innings from captain Suryakumar Yadav.
After the close win over the United States, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has heaped praise on Suryakumar Yadav for delivering one of the best pressure innings he has seen in T20 cricket.
Suryakumar Yadav brought India out of deep crisis
The Men in Blue were in serious trouble early in the game. After being asked to bat first, they found themselves in a worrying position of 77 for 6. At that time, the match seemed to be slipping away from India. At that time, the Indian captain took full responsibility against USA.
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The right-handed batsman stitched a crucial 41-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Axar Patel and then added 22 runs with Arshdeep Singh and 21 runs with Varun Chakraborty to pull the defending champions out of trouble in the first match of the T20 World Cup 2026.
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After a brilliant performance from Suryakumar Yadav, Siraj leads the bowling attack to seal the win
Once settled, Suryakumar showed his full range. He combined smart placement with clean power and played shots all around the field. In the final over, he completely changed the momentum by hitting two sixes and two fours, pushing India to a total of 161 for 9. He remained unbeaten on 84 off just 49 balls against USA at the Wankhede Stadium.
Defending the target, Mohammed Siraj led the attack brilliantly, taking three wickets for 29 runs and dismantling the USA top order. Arshdeep Singh and Akshar Patel took two wickets each. The Indian bowlers held the position throughout and never allowed America to gain momentum. In the end, the United States were restricted to 132/8, giving India a comfortable 29-run victory.
A masterclass and excellent: Gambhir lauds Suryakumar Yadav
After the match, Gautam Gambhir highlighted how calm and special Suryakumar’s batting was in difficult conditions, calling it one of the best pressure innings he has seen in T20 cricket.
The Indian head coach believes that the way Suryakumar handled the pressure and guided the team shows his class and match awareness.
“In the beginning, he was a masterclass. He was excellent. I have seen it in T20 cricket, especially under pressure, the position we were in; I thought it was incredible,” Gambhir said in the BCCI video.
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Suryakumar Yadav called USA match an alarm bell for Team India.
Talking about the poor start, the Indian captain said that the win over America was very special and it taught some important lessons to the players and support staff.
“Winning after some scares and hiccups is a very special feeling, but it’s also an eye-opener for the boys and the support staff. I’ve played in similar conditions before, so I knew it was important to be there for my team,” Suryakumar said in the same video.
The Indian captain said that the pitch was not easy to bat on and the team needed to learn from what happened. He signed off by saying, “I understand it was a difficult wicket to bat on, and we are not used to these kind of conditions. But at the same time, you can’t hide everything. We have to understand how we could have batted better. At the end of the day, you learn and move on.”
