T20 World Cup 2026: “Indian Mentality” Makes India Favourites For Title, Says Suryakumar Yadav

India captain Suryakumar Yadav has opened up about the “brand of cricket” that the team has been playing in the last two-three years. “This is the Indian mentality. We have been playing some good brand of cricket for the last two-three years, but we have changed our thinking,” Suryakumar said during the pre-tournament captains’ media interaction here on Thursday.

“Earlier, we used to play bilateral (series) differently than the ICC tournaments, but now, be it an ICC event [or the] Asia Cup or even a bilateral (match), we try to play in the same manner. This is why, when we went to play the 2024 T20 World Cup, it did not feel any different. It felt like we had been playing this way for an entire year. Even now, the kind of cricket we have been playing for the last year, we will try to play the same way (in the T20 World Cup). And if we play well, the result will also be on our side.”

The aggressive right-handed batter also credits head coach Gautam Gambhir for the kind of environment he has created in the dressing room.

“It has been a wonderful journey since he (Gambhir) has taken over. The main thing is the atmosphere that he has created in the dressing room — that it’s a team game. He has infused that personal milestones should be kept aside and the team goals are more important. It’s been one year since he has been working on it,” he said.

“For example, in the last match in Thiruvananthapuram, Ishan Kishan was in his 90s and he completed his hundred with a six. That is one thing he (Gambhir) is trying in the dressing room, keeping the personal milestones away and focusing on what’s the team’s goal and then the work towards it.”

Surya returned to form during the New Zealand series and struck three fifties and eventually notched up 242 runs in the five-match series. “I am very relieved to get my form back. Good to be back among the runs before a big tournament,” he said.

India will begin the T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against USA in Mumbai on Saturday. The Men in Blue will go into the tournament as the defending champions having won the World Cup in 2024 under Rohit Sharma.

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