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Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan lavished praise on captain Suryakumar Yadav after his classic knock in the T20 World Cup 2026 opener against the USA at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Suryakumar played an unbeaten 89-run knock after the early collapse that helped the Men in Blue to score 161 runs.
Irfan Pathan on Team India's performance
Irfan Pathan took his 'X' formerly Twitter to praise Suryakumar Yadav and slammed the rest of the batter, saying mindless batting.
Taking to X, Pathan wrote, "When the chips are down, you look to your leader. And Surya Kumar Yadav delivered like a true captain. What an innings."
Meanwhile, on the rest of the batting, he posted, "You have to call it as mindless batting."
India vs USA innings report
Coming back to the match, after asked to bat, India got off to a bad start as destructive opener Abhishek Sharma was dismissed for a golden duck. Ishan Kishan managed to score 20 runs, including two sixes in 16 balls. Tilak Varma (25 off 16 balls, including three fours and a six) tried to steady the innings with a 37-run stand. However, Shadley van Schalkwyk turned the game around by removing both batters. From there, India lost their way and slipped to 77/6, with Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, and Hardik Pandya failing to make an impact.
Suryakumar Yadav's batting vs USA
Captain Suryakumar Yadav stood tall under pressure, playing a brilliant unbeaten knock of 84 off 49 balls, which included 10 fours and four sixes, to guide India to 161/9 in their 20 overs. For the USA, Harmeet Singh (2/26) and Mohammad Mohsin (1/16) bowled tight and disciplined spells, keeping the Indian batting line-up under control.
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