Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh expressed faith in Suryakumar Yadav to deliver in the 2026 T20 World Cup that will commence from February 7. This comes despite the India captain's rough patch in the format that saw him not score a single half-century in 2025. His last 50+ score came in October, 2024 against Bangladesh and since then his batting hasn't been upto the mark.
Harbhajan expects Suryakumar to perform
However, Harbhajan believes that Suryakumar is saving the big knocks for the T20 World Cup and claimed that the latter is still the No.1 player in the format. He further said that the India batteer can do the same job that AB de Villiers did for South Africa in the shortest format.
“May be, he is saving it for the World Cup. Surya is a class player. There is no doubt about it. I still believe that he is probably the No.1 player in this format. People often talk about how great AB de Villiers is, but we have our own guy who does the same job. And I do back him to come good for India in this World Cup," Harbhajan said on the sidelines of an event announcing the partnership between Mumbai Indians and Malaysia Airlines.
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Harbhajan further backed the team to bring up positive results at home as they know the conditions very well and the support that they get is phenomenal.
“Playing international cricket itself brings pressure. It doesn’t matter where you play. It’s kind of a blessing to play in front of your home crowd, in your backyard. You know your conditions better than the others, and the support you get is unbelievable,” Harbhajan stated.
“When the Indian team plays anywhere in the world, it feels like we are playing in India. But still, the support at home is very different. I hope that our team will play well here," he added.
Suryakumar desperate to improve his form
Meanwhile, Suryakumar will once again be leading Team India as they try to defend the T20 World Cup title. The 35-year-old will have a chance to improve his form in the tournament as he is set to feature in a five-match T20I series against New Zealand that will commence from January 21.
India's squad for 2026 T20 World Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.