USA’s spinner Harmeet Singh lavished praise on Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav for his mature knock in the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday. SKY scored a brilliant knock of 84 runs off just 49 balls to help India post a decent total of 161 runs on the board after they were put into bat by USA captain Monank Patel.
India found themselves under the cosh at 77-6 as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. However, the Indian captain showed all the guile and played with a sedate approach in the first half of the innings.
After getting settled at the crease, SKY changed gears at the fag end of the innings as he batted at the top of his game. Harmeet said SKY has got the same poise which MS Dhoni had later in his career.
Harmeet Singh said in the post-match press conference, “Of course, we used to imagine all that, but success came late for him. He was always… I think he has got the poise now, which MS Dhoni also had later in his career. The flair that he had as a stroke-player, he played a sensible innings, and he finished the game and played a proper knock.
“The maturity which (players like) Virat (Kohli) have, I played a matured knock, and that is what happens with experience and (with) the kind of job he has been given. He is doing a great job.”
On the other hand, former Indian opener Virender Sehwag rated SKY’s knock against the USA as the best innings of his career.
He said on JioStar, “Imagine if the Indian team had been all out for just 100, we wouldn’t have said that a weak team like the USA beat India. They have also qualified for the World Cup. That’s why I feel it was one of the best knocks of Suryakumar Yadav’s career. I always say, focus on the ball and not the bowler, because if it pitches in the right area, you have to respect it. If you go for your shots on a good ball, you might get out.
“Take this USA team, we had heard very little about some of these bowlers, but they were able to reduce India to 77 for 6, which I don’t think any other team has managed in the last two to two-and-a-half years. So, hats off to Suryakumar Yadav, he played extremely well.”
India will next take on Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on February 12.
