New Delhi: India kicked off their T20 World Cup campaign with a win over the United States, but skipper Suryakumar Yadav admitted the side will have to dig deep after a shaky start. India finished with a record of 161/9, mainly due to SKY’s unbeaten 84 off 49 balls after the order collapsed in the upper middle order. The US then responded with a score of 132/8, with the Indian bowlers taking control.
After the match, Suryakumar got honest about India’s batting woes. He said: “Only I know how much pressure we were under when we were at 77/6… We could have played a little better.” He also addressed the situation, noting that the pitch and morning light were unusual, but stressed that the team should not make excuses.“This wicket is a bit different from Wankhede’s usual wickets. But at the same time, we know that when we wake up in the morning, we see there’s not a lot of sunlight outside,” he added.Surya, who was awarded the Man of the Match award for his superb knock, explained how he handled his innings when India were in trouble, adding, “I always felt the need for a batsman to bat till the end. I never felt it was a 180-190 wicket. I felt it was a 140 wicket.” He revealed that coach Gautam Gambhir also advised him to stay till the end and come back on his own. “Gowdy Bai told me the same thing during the break after the 14th over. He told me that just try to bat till the end and you can always cover it,” he continued.With the experience of playing at the Independence Stadium in Mumbai, he focused on timing his bats and managing the innings under pressure.He also reflected on his personal experience, saying: “I definitely knew it was going to come one day…I was trying to bat in this way to save the innings for the team, but it didn’t happen.”India’s bowlers then stepped up. Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel shared crucial wickets to halt the US team’s pursuit. Despite effective counter-attacks from Milind Kumar, Shubham Ranjane and Suraj Krishnamurti, they could not match the experience of the Indian team in the crucial moments.Earlier, Shadley van Schalkwyk broke through the batting with four wickets, including a triple in one over, as India were stunned at 77/6. But Suryakumar’s clinical and aggressive batting came to India’s rescue and gave the bowlers enough runs to defend.In the end, India won by 29 runs, an important but hard-earned win that showed both their resilience and the areas where they still need to improve.
