India began their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a hard-fought 29-run win over the USA at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on February 7, and the biggest reason behind the victory was a calm yet powerful innings from captain Suryakumar Yadav.
After the close victory over the USA, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has showered rich praise on Suryakumar Yadav for delivering one of the best pressure knocks seen in T20 cricket.
Suryakumar Yadav rescues India from deep trouble
The Men in Blue were in serious trouble early in the game. After being asked to bat first, they have found themselves at a worrying 77 for 6. At that stage, the match was slipping away from India. At that moment, the Indian skipper took full responsibility against the USA.
The right-handed batter 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 Chakravarthy to bring the defending champions out of the trouble in their T20 World Cup 2026 opener.
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After Suryakumar Yadav’s stunning show, Siraj leads the bowling attack to seal the win
Once he settled in, Suryakumar showed his full range. He played shots all around the ground, mixing smart placement with clean power. In the final over, he completely changed the momentum by smashing two sixes and two fours, pushing India to a fighting total of 161 for 9. He remained unbeaten on 84 off just 49 balls against the USA at the Wankhede Stadium.
Defending the target, Mohammed Siraj led the attack brilliantly, picking up three wickets for 29 runs and breaking the USA’s top order. Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel took two wickets each. The Indian bowlers kept things tight throughout and never allowed the USA to build momentum. In the end, the USA were restricted to 132/8, handing India a comfortable 29-run victory.
A masterclass and outstanding: Gambhir hails Suryakumar Yadav
After the match, Gautam Gambhir highlighted how calm and special Suryakumar’s batting was in a tough situation, calling it one of the finest pressure innings seen in T20 cricket.
The Indian head coach felt that the way Suryakumar handled the pressure and guided the team showed his class and match awareness.
Gambhir said in the BCCI video, “To start with, that was a masterclass. That was outstanding. I’ve seen in T20 cricket, especially under pressure, the situation we were in; I thought it was unbelievable.”
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Suryakumar Yadav calls USA match a wake-up call for Team India
Speaking about the shaky start, the Indian captain said that the win over the USA was very special and also taught the players and support staff some important lessons.
Suryakumar said in the same video, “It’s a very, very special feeling to win after a few scares and hiccups, but it’s also an eye-opener for the boys and the support staff. I’ve played in similar situations before, so I knew that staying there for my side was crucial.”
The Indian captain said batting was not easy on the pitch, and the team needs 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 conditions like these. But at the same time, you can’t brush everything under the carpet. We have to understand how we could have batted better. At the end of the day, you learn and move on.”
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