A captain’s knock from the India skipper Suryakumar Yadav in the India vs USA T20 World Cup 2026 match on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Yadav, with his undisputed innings, encrypted his name in the pages of the record book.
The Indian batting order unexpectedly spread thin against the USA bowling team in the third match of the tournament. At a point of the game, the home team lost 6 wickets for 77. As half of the batters went back to the hut, the 100-run mark was also looking miles away from India’s range. From there, it was Yadav who single-handedly brought back Team India into the contest.
Yadav leading from the front
Batting first, after losing the toss, the defending champion registered 161 in 20 overs against 9 wickets. Suryakumar Yadav himself added 84 runs. The middle-order batter remained not out after facing 49 balls. He not only tried to provide some stability to the batting structure but also went out of his skin to secure a significant score. In the process, he smashed a total of fourteen boundaries, including ten 4s and four sixes.
In the previous edition of the T20 World Cup, it was Rohit Sharma who was in charge of the team. After his retirement, Suryakumar Yadav was named as the leader of the troop. The ongoing tournament is the first T20 World Cup for him as a captain. And in the debut innings as the captain in the T20 WC, the Mumbaikar made history.
Surykumar Yadav surpassed Babar Azam
Yadav, for his unbeaten 84-run knock, is officially the second-highest run scorer as a debutante skipper in the ICC T20 World Cup, surpassing some of the best in the business, like Babar Azam (Pakistan) and Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka). Former West Indies opener Chris Gayle is topping the chart for his 88, which he scored against Australia at The Oval in 2009.
Highest score in debut innings as captain (T20 WC):
1. 88 Chris Gayle vs Aus The Oval 2009
2. 84*Suryakumar Yadav vs USA, Wankhede, 2026
3. 68*Babar Azam vs. Ind, Dubai, 2021
4. 65 Mahela Jayawardene vs Ken Joburg, 2007
5. 61 Mohd Ashraful vs WO Joburg 2007
New Zealand helped Suryakumar Yadav to find out the mojo
Yadav had to struggle a lot in 2025 for Team India. He batted beautifully for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 season, but his performance for the national cricket team is something better to forget about. Before the beginning of the 2026 T20 World Cup, when there were a lot of doubts over Yadav’s credibility as a T20 batter, he bounced back.
The 35-year-old batter registered three half-centuries during the 5-match T20I series against New Zealand. Today’s match against the USA is the proof that he is carrying the same fiery form he displayed during the bilateral series against the Blackcaps.
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