Former India opener Sadagoppan Ramesh criticized the Suryakumar Yadav-led side for being overconfident in the T20 World Cup 2026 match against the United States. Ramesh said the Men in Blue failed to utilize their full batting potential during the opener at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, February 7.
India faced defeat after Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a golden duck. Ishan Kishan was out cheaply, putting the innings in trouble early. By the end of the powerplay, the team’s score was 46 runs for 4 wickets and then in the 13th over it reached an embarrassing score of 77 runs for 6 wickets.
Notably, it was the lowest score on home soil in almost nine years, on which India lost so many wickets, as many batsmen played big shots and were caught inside the circle or in the deep.
It was complete overconfidence – Sadagoppan Ramesh criticizes Suryakumar Yadav’s team
Sadagoppan Ramesh said that the team failed to bat to its potential. Ramesh blamed overconfidence for the poor performance and said that matches cannot be won on reputation alone. He said that while the batting disappointed the team, the bowlers helped the team win.
Ramesh said on his YouTube channel, “India did not bat to their potential. But the bowlers corrected the batsmen’s mistakes. It was pure overconfidence that led to India’s disappointing batting. Even if you are a lion with the bat, you cannot expect the opponent to surrender to you. To win, you have to put in some effort.”
India will have to make proper efforts – Sadagoppan Ramesh
Ramesh urged the Suryakumar Yadav-led team to remain on the field during the T20 World Cup. He said that India has immense talent but it has to play with discipline. Ramesh warned that underestimating the opponents could be India’s biggest risk in the tournament.
Ramesh said, “Despite the incredible talent, India will have to make reasonable efforts without doing anything extreme. It is important that India does not underestimate any team.”
“If India falls short in this World Cup, that will be the reason. But it is good that they got a warning in the first game. India will be careful from now on, as we have already seen with the ball.”
Without Suryakumar Yadav, India probably would have lost – Sadagoppan Ramesh
Sadagoppan Ramesh said that Suryakumar Yadav’s innings turned the match in India’s favour. Ramesh said Suryakumar built his innings patiently before accelerating at the right time, which helped India reach the total of 160.
“India have dominated many teams recently, but today the tables were turned. Without Suryakumar’s calm and aggressive innings, India could have lost. His slow start and late surge took the total to 160. If a crucial catch had gone to the other side, 160 would have been out of reach.”
Suryakumar Yadav scored unbeaten 84 runs in 49 balls and took the team to 161 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs. After this the bowlers restricted USA to 132 runs for 8 wickets and registered an easy victory of 29 runs.
Suryakumar’s innings helped India extend their T20 World Cup winning streak to a record nine matches, and the Men in Blue will aim to make it 10 consecutive matches when they face Namibia in Delhi on February 12.
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