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India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav led from the front during the T20 World Cup 2026 opener clash against the USA at iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The stylish batter played an unbeaten 89-run knock after India's batting collapse that helped the Men in Blue to score 161 runs on board.
Suryakumar Yadav surpassed Virat Kohli
The 35-year-old batter, who was named Player of the Match, has now gone past batting great Virat Kohli to become the Indian with the most POTM awards in T20Is. Suryakumar Yadav leads the list with 17 awards from just 105 matches, overtaking Kohli, who has 16 such honours from 125 games. Rohit Sharma sits third with 14 Player of the Match awards in 159 T20Is, while all-rounder Axar Patel rounds off the list with eight awards from 88 appearances.
Most POTM awards in T20Is (India)
17 Suryakumar Yadav (105 T20Is)
16 Virat Kohli (125)
14 Rohit Sharma (159)
8 Axar Patel (88)
Most POTM awards in T20 World Cups (India)
Apart from that, the star batter also became only the second Indian to register the most Player of the Match awards in T20 World Cups, achieving the feat on four occasions. Virat Kohli continues to top the list with eight Player of the Match awards from 35 T20 World Cup appearances, while Suryakumar Yadav now sits second with four such honours in just 19 matches. Former match-winner Yuvraj Singh, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, and Rohit Sharma follow next, with three awards each from 31, 24, and 47 matches respectively.
8 Virat Kohli (35 T20Is)
4 Suryakumar Yadav (19) *
3 Yuvraj Singh (31)
3 R Ashwin (24)
3 Rohit Sharma (47)
India vs USA match summary
Suryakumar Yadav's heroics followed by the bowling masterclass India defeated USA by 29 runs to start their ICC T20 World Cup campaign on a winning note.
Pacers Mohammad Siraj (2/29) Arshdeep Singh (2/18) and left-arm spinner Axar Patel (2/24) were the pick of the bowlers, after India laboured to 161 for 9. In reply, the USA were restricted to 132/8.
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