'Intent was missing but...': USA captain Monank Patel blames teammates after 29-run defeat vs India in T20 World Cup 2026 opener

United States captain Monank Patel opened up about the team's 29-run defeat against India in their T20 World Cup 2026 opener at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The 32-year-old believes that their bowling did a great job, but the intent was missing during the chase.

Monank Patel on USA's bowling performance

Despite the defeat, Patel said he was proud of how his team performed, especially the bowlers. The USA captain felt his bowling unit read the pitch well and put India under pressure early on.

“I thought our bowlers did a really good job. They understood the conditions well and gave us a good start. We dropped a few catches here and there, and that made the difference. I think 160 was a good score on this pitch, we would take that total any day,” Patel said after the match.

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Monank Patel on USA's batting vs India

However, while reviewing the batting effort, Patel admitted that the top order failed to show enough intent during the chase, which hurt the team’s chances.

“Our top three couldn’t perform, and the intent was missing. But there are a lot of positives and a lot of learnings from this game,” he said.

Monank Patel on playing vs India

Patel also pointed out that playing against a strong Indian side in front of a big crowd was a valuable experience for his players.

“The way we handled the pressure, playing in front of such a big crowd against India, was encouraging. These are positives that will help us in the next three games. We will come back stronger,” he added.

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India vs USA T20 World Cup 2026 clash

After being asked to bat, India scored 161/9 in 20 overs as captain Suryakumar Yadav led from the front, smashing a fantastic unbeaten knock of 84 off 49 deliveries, with 10 fours and four towering sixes.

Wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan, who featured as an opener alongside Abhishek Sharma, scored 20 off 16 balls, with one four and Tilak Varma (25 off 16 balls, with three fours and one six) also chipped in with the bat.

For the USA, Shadley van Schalkwyk (4/29) and Harmeet Singh (2/26) were among the wicket-takers.two sixes

While chasing, USA were restricted to 132/8 as they lost the match by 29 runs. Milind Kumar (34 off 34 balls, with four boundaries), Sanjay Krishnamurthi (37 off 31 balls, with two sixes and one four) and Shubham Ranjane (37 off 22 balls, with two fours and three sixes) played fighting knocks for their side.

India's Mohammed Siraj was the pick of the bowlers with three scalps and Arshdeep Singh got two wickets.