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As the defending champions India registered a winning start to their ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a 29-run victory over the USA in Mumbai Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav shared his thoughts on India's title defence and the reasons behind his team's superb form in the T20 format over the last 18 months. Suryakumar Yadav was confident about his team's title defence. "If you prioritise team goals ahead of personal milestones, more often than not, I feel the team will be in a dominant position. Only we can stop ourselves from overanalysing or slipping into a negative mindset, but I believe this team is fully prepared for the T20 World Cup. I don't see any reason why we can't go all the way," Suryakumar Yadav said on JioStar. Yadav also emphasised the importance of giving everyone on the team the freedom to express themselves. "Honesty and freedom of speech are essential to a team sport. It's important to listen to other players, as they may have insights that could benefit the team. Also, giving everyone the freedom to play their natural game, which has helped them reach this level, is key to maintaining a healthy team atmosphere. Looking at our win percentage over the last one or two years, which has been impressive, we must be doing something right," he added.
Defending champions India will play their second group-stage match against Namibia on Thursday at the T20 World Cup 2026. After winning the first match, India will aim for another victory at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The Indian team defeated the USA by 29 runs, with skipper Suryakumar Yadav remaining unbeaten on 84 from 49 balls. After Namibia, India is scheduled to play the much-anticipated World Cup match against Pakistan in Colombo on February 15, before travelling to Ahmedabad for their final group-stage clash against the Netherlands on February 18. Indian squad: Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Verma, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Varun Chakraborty, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar. (ANI)
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