New Delhi: Skipper Suryakumar Yadav turned out to be the saviour for India as he slammed a brilliant knock of unbeaten 84 to rescue the hosts after a dramatic
batting collapse in their opener against the USA in the T20 World Cup 2026 on Saturday. Suryakumar’s fighting knock helped India post a challenging total of 161 runs on the board in 20 overs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The expectations were high from India after the hosts flexed their batting might in their recently concluded T20I series against New Zealand at home. However, it was a dismal show from the defending champions in their opener against USA as they endured a spectacular batting collapse. India lost in-form opener Abhishek Sharma on a Golden Duck, and what unfolded was pure chaos as India kept losing wickets at regular intervals to be left in tatters.
After Abhishek’s early departure, Ishan Kishan (20) combined with Tilak Varma (25) to steady the ship, however, triple strikes from pacer Shadley van Schalkwyk in the final over of the Powerplay left India reeling at 46/4. Kishan departed on the second delivery of the over before Van Schalkwyk got rid of Tilak and Shivam Dube (0) on successive deliveries to rattle India.
With India on the backfoot, the USA bowlers created relentless pressure and kept taking wickets at regular intervals to pile more pressure on the hosts. India lost Rinku Singh (6) and Hardik Pandya (5) cheaply in quick succession to be left tottering at 77/6 at one stage.
Suryakumar then combined with Axar Patel (14) to share a crucial 41-run stand for the 7th wicket and get India’s innings back on track. Axar too failed to get going, however, Suryakumar remained unbeaten till the end to help India finish strongly with a sensational 84 off 49 balls.
Suryakumar’s unbeaten 84 was laced with four sixes and 10 fours as he wreaked havoc on the USA bowlers in the death overs. The Indian skipper
