Suryakumar Yadav Breaks Babar Azam's Record, Goes 2nd In The List For...

India captain Suryakumar Yadav’s sensational 49-ball 84 against the USA helped him jump second in the list for most runs scored by a men’s batter on his T20 World Cup captaincy debut. With ten fours and four sixes, Suryakumar showed his full range of shots at the Wankhede Stadium to kickstart India’s campaign in the 2026 edition, in what would go down as one of the best knocks in the tournament’s history.

The match started with a few jitters for the hosts. Abhishek Sharma fell for a first-ball duck in the second over, edging Ali Khan straight to deep cover, setting the tone for a night of batting woes.

Tilak Varma briefly counter-attacked, striking Saurabh Netravalkar and Shadley van Schalkwyk with confidence, while Ishan Kishan chipped in with 20.

However, van Schalkwyk triggered a collapse, removing Kishan, Tilak and Shivam Dube in quick succession.

Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel all departed cheaply as India slid to 77 for six by the 13th over. Van Schalkwyk finished with impressive figures of 4 for 2.

Amid the chaos, skipper Suryakumar stood firm. Showing composure and clarity of shot selection, he farmed the strike expertly and paced his innings to perfection. The only batter to fully read the wicket, Suryakumar accelerated in the death overs, smashing 34 runs in the last two, including 21 off the final over. His unbeaten knock lifted India to a fighting, though sub-par, 161 for nine.

Most runs on captaincy debut in T20 World Cups

Runs	Player	Team	Opponent	Venue	Year
88	Chris Gayle	West Indies	Australia	The Oval	2009
84*	Suryakumar Yadav	India	USA	Wankhede	2026
68*	Babar Azam	Pakistan	India	Dubai	2021
65	Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka	Kenya	Johannesburg	2007
61	Mohammad Ashraful	Bangladesh	West Indies	Johannesburg	2007

India’s bowling attack came through in the second innings, helping them defend the total by 29 runs. The win and especially helping the team through a struggling situation, would fill Suryakumar with immense confidence for the remainder of the team’s title defense.