- By Himanshu Badola
- Sun, 08 Feb 2026 12:27 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND vs USA, ICC T20 World Cup 2026: India maintained their dominance in the T20I format as they kicked off their T20 World Cup 2026 with an impressive victory over the USA by 29 runs in match 3 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. India are placed at the top of the group A points table. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav was the star performer in the opening game as he led from the front before bowlers wrapped things up.
India headed into the tournament as the defending champions, having lifted their second T20 World Cup title with a victory over South Africa in the final in the previous edition in 2024. This is the first time Suryakumar is captaining the side in a major ICC tournament, and India have had an outstanding record under his leadership, having lost all the series so far, and also winning the Asia Cup 2025.
With an aim to defend their T20 World Cup title, India fielded their best possible combination in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the game due to illness. After being put into bat first, India were on the backfoot straight away as the top order completely failed. The recovery was made by Suryakumar, who was the lone fighter in the middle. After playing the waiting game for a while, when the wickets were falling at the other end, Suryakumar opened his hands towards the end.
He went on to smash a crucial half-century, and his 84-run knock helped India reach a fighting total of 161/9 in their 20 overs. He smashed 10 fours and four sixes. With the help of outstanding new-ball bowling, India took an upper hand. Mohammed Siraj took three wickets, whereas Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel found a couple of scalps each as the USA were restricted to 132/8 in their 20 overs.
Let's take a few takeaways for India from their win against USA in the T20 World Cup 2026
Suryakumar Yadav's incredible form
After a disappointing outing last year, Suryakumar has found his touch again and has kicked off the tournament in the best possible way. He hasn't had a great record in the T20 World Cups over the years, but he could be one of the contenders for the top run-getters in this year's edition.
The ever-ready Mohammed Siraj
Siraj made it to the squad as a replacement for the injured Harshit Rana. Interestingly, he was included in the playing XI as Jasprit Bumrah missed out due to illness. The star pacer was quick to make an impact and produced a match-winning effort of three wickets for 29 runs in his four overs.
The middle-overs Masterclass
After a magnificent start with the new ball from Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj, spinners fulfilled their roles in the middle overs. They never allowed the USA batters to pick up the momentum in the run chase. Varun Chakravarthy took one wicket for just 24 runs in his four overs, whereas Axar Patel took the crucial wickets of Sanjay Krishnamurthi (37) and Harmeet Singh (0).