3 min readFeb 8, 2026 12:08 AM IST
India were in all kinds of strife against minnows USA with a stunned crowd at the Wankhede Stadium looking on when Suryakumar Yadav hunkered down on Saturday. Hardik Pandya, whose big-hitting had reached superhuman levels in the run-up to the T20 World Cup, was the latest to have fallen and India had scored just 77 runs at the time for the loss of six wickets in their opening match of the tournament.
However, captain Suryakumar, who was looking a shadow of his belligerent self throughout last year, stuck around and miraculously shifted gears to take his side to 161/9 in 20 overs. Suryakumar finished unbeaten on 84 off 49 balls – he was on 21 off 22 when Pandya had fallen in the 13th over. India eventually won the match by 29 runs.
“I never felt that it was a 180-190 wicket. I felt it was a 140 wicket,” said Suryakumar in the post-match presentation ceremony. He said that head coach Gautam Gambhir was of the same opinion.
“Gauti bhai told me the same thing during the break after the 14 overs. He told me, just try and bat till the end, you can cover it any time.”
The Wankhede is home for Suryakumar, who plays domestic cricket and the IPL in Mumbai. He said that the experience of a lifetime of playing in the city also helped. “I have played a lot of my cricket in Bombay, this wicket and also maidans of Mumbai cricket. So I know how to bat on similar kind of wickets,” he said.
“You had to understand that one batter had to bat till the end. I just kept counting who was about to bowl at that time and checked on how many balls were left and I was just trying to play good shots and my shots.”
It is a continuation of a remarkable turnaround in form for Suryakumar. He had scored just 218 runs in 19 innings this year at a paltry average of 13.62 and strike rate of 123.16 with no half-centuries to his name. However, he started the new year with two blistering half-centuries in India’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
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“Last whole year, I was trying to bat in such a way, hold the innings for the team, but it wasn’t happening. But then I left it alone after I played the last series of last year against South Africa. Packed my kit bag, spent a lot of time with family for two weeks. Then started in the new year and when we went to Nagpur, it was a different feeling altogether,” said Suryakumar.
