After a hazy start, captain Suryakumar Yadav allowed the sunshine in that the team needed most. Perhaps the pitch at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, where India faced the USA cricket team for the third match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026, also needed some more sunlight to make it better for batting.
After winning the match by 29 runs over the United States, the India captain discussed various aspects of the match after the team was surprisingly on the backfoot against the American bowlers in the first innings. Without Yadav’s unbeaten 84 off 49 balls, the defending champions may not have been able to register a score of 161/9 in 20 overs for a winning effort.
Suryakumar Yadav told why the batsmen performed poorly
But why did the Indian batting lineup, with so many talented and proven T20 batsmen, suddenly start feeling out of sorts against a lower-ranked team? Suryakumar Yadav did not blame anyone but tried to highlight certain areas of the match, including the pitch where he himself has played a lot of cricket.
In the post-match presentation, the victorious captain revealed that he has played a lot of cricket at various grounds in Mumbai, including the Wankhede Stadium. But during the match against the United States, the deck was working differently; Even local batsman Yadav himself took some time to understand the nature of the surface.
Suryakumar Yadav said, “I was confident that I have batted in similar conditions. And even though I have played a lot of my cricket at Mumbai cricket grounds, Azad Maidan and Cross Maidan. So I knew that if I bat till the end, I can make a difference (on the pitch today). It was a slightly different wicket as usual at Wankhede.”
Doubt over Wankhede Stadium pitch
He did not blame the pitch curator or the ground staff, but felt that the nature of the pitch was a little different due to the weather conditions. The lack of sunlight in the morning can affect the deck.
The captain said, “When we woke up in the morning, we knew; we saw that there was not much sunlight outside. I think the curator and the groundsman tried their best to prepare the best pitch. But I think some things were not in their control. So there was not enough sunlight to roll and water the pitch.”
Suryakumar Yadav provides update on Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar
Before ending the chat, Suryakumar Yadav provided key updates on Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar, who were not available for the match. He took over the captaincy and told us that Sundar is good now and he will join the team in Delhi. Due to the weather, Bumrah had high fever.
Yadav concluded, “Vashi is joining us in Delhi. He is good. Everything is fine. Bumra, he had high fever because of the weather, like Abhishek had high fever because of the weather. But everything else is good.”
read more: Suryakumar Yadav created history as India captain by playing a brilliant innings against USA in T20 World Cup 2026.
