Usually bullish, witty and funny in the pre-match press conference, there was a rare glimpse of a slightly conservative Suryakumar Yadav ahead of India’s first Super 8 match in the T20 World Cup 2026. Speaking to the press, Suryakumar admitted that there was pressure on the Indian team, and that he tried to keep his mind away from it, choosing instead to stay in the present.
Keeping your mind off pressure, however, is easier said than done.
Someone in the room brought up the law of averages. India have won 12 matches in a row in T20 World Cups. The suggestion hung in the air — surely, one bad day must be around the corner.
“If you think about that, it’s not easy, it’s difficult. Because sometimes when you play good cricket, like you said, law of average, you can hear the voice. But it’s okay, we try to avoid that thing a little bit,” Suryakumar said.
There was honesty in that response. Not the honesty of someone fearing a collapse. But of someone who understands the cruelty of sport. That even when you prepare well, even when you are better, the game can tilt on a misfield, an edge, a gust of wind. He knows that one imperfect moment can undo a dozen excellent ones.
And yet, beneath that awareness sits belief.
India believe they are good enough to win every single game in this tournament. They believe they can lift the World Cup again. They know that no team has defended a T20 World Cup title before.
And therein lies the tension.
The captain revealed that every player has a way of dealing with pressure. For him, it is about keeping things simple. Staying in the present. Focusing on the group he says he is proud of.
“The more we stay in the present, the more we pay attention to our group, the more we focus on our strengths, the better it works,” Yadav said.
For years, Indian cricketers have been trained to project certainty. To deflect doubt. To stand at a press conference and speak in absolutes. There is an unwritten code — vulnerability is weakness, and weakness is unacceptable when you represent a billion people.
Saturday felt slightly different.
Suryakumar did not dismiss pressure. He did not pretend it did not exist. He acknowledged it, even if briefly. He allowed space for the idea that this team feels the weight of expectation.
It may seem like a small thing. It is not.
In a country where athletes are often expected to be unshakeable, where emotional armour is worn as part of the jersey, moments like these matter. When captains admit doubt without surrendering ambition, it shifts something. It tells younger players that fear and belief can co-exist. That confidence does not require denial.
Truth be told, one almost expected him to respond with, “Pressure? What pressure?” That would have been the easier line. The safer one.
Instead, he chose nuance.
In doing so, he showed that strength is not always loud. Sometimes, it is simply the ability to say, yes, we feel it — and we still believe we are good enough.
If more athletes were allowed to occupy that space, perhaps the ecosystem around sport would soften too. Perhaps young cricketers would grow up understanding that excellence and vulnerability are not opposites.
And perhaps that is where the two Indias begin. He blurred the line between the India that performs and the India that feels.
TWO INDIAS: OUTSIDE MOTERA
Beyond the premises of the Narendra Modi Stadium, there are two worlds in Ahmedabad. One that knows, follows and is excited about the T20 World Cup. And another that simply goes about its day.
My autorickshaw driver did not know what match was scheduled on Sunday, or even which teams were playing. What he did know was which roads would be closed three hours before the game.
“You will have to walk for 2 kms to the stadium if you take this road. But I know a side line, which will make you walk a little less,” he told me.
That, in its own way, was reality. One India plans its weekend around the Super 8. Another plans its commute around roadblocks.
A quick chat with a few locals revealed that the buzz around this tournament is not quite what it was during the 2023 ODI World Cup. That tournament had Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja — names that drew people in, that fans were willing to spend on.
This time, some said they felt a little fatigued. “Wasn’t it last year that Rohit won the T20 World Cup?” Jatin, a local, asked. He had to be corrected, that moment came in June 2024, nearly 2 years back.
“But there is too much T20 cricket. The World Cup should be held once every four years,” he argued.
Perhaps that too feeds into the larger duality. One India is saturated with cricket. Another still waits for it to feel rare.
Do the players sense that? Or does the bubble insulate them from it?
Of course, this observation may not hold for the 100,000 who will walk into the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Once the ring of fire lights up and the teams walk out, the theatre will take over again.
TWO INDIAS: IN PRACTICE SESSION
If the press conference felt like a tale of two Indias, the city did too. And the practice session was no different.
After giving Sanju Samson an extended hit on Friday, Suryakumar effectively shut down talk of his inclusion on Saturday.
Asked whether the lengthy net session hinted at a change, Surya responded with a smile: “You mean I should play him in Abhishek’s place? You mean I should play him in Tilak’s place?”
There is firmness in that backing of Abhishek. But there is also the unavoidable question — what exactly did Samson do wrong?
In imperious form not too long ago, even through the Asia Cup, it was the management that disrupted his rhythm. And now, despite an opener struggling for runs, India are unwilling to reopen that door.
Again, two impulses sit side by side. One that rewards form immediately. Another that protects continuity.
That is the reality, hours before the game. There are indeed two Indias. One that must project certainty. And another that knows where the doubts lie and works quietly around them.
The Suryakumar Yadav press conference offered a glimpse into how the players and management think, and how they choose to present themselves once the cameras are switched on. And that duality might just be their strength.
India, unlike England, are not rigid about who they are. Yes, they would love to score 270s and 280s. But they understand the conditions. They understand form. They know when to pull back. They know when to hold.
This has not been the case with England over the last few years. They are bullish about their identity and the style of play they want to have. And that has been disastrous for them. They failed to qualify for the 2023 World Cup knock-outs, failed to reach the semis of the 2024 T20 World Cup, and have been horrible in the Test format as well.
And this could easily have been India, if they kept on with their approach of ultra-aggressive batting in the tricky pitches of the T20 World Cup 2026.
But, with their No.1 batter out of rhythm, Suryakumar recognised it was okay to switch the template. And on Saturday, that backing publicly mattered.
“Last year, he covered for us. Now it is time for us to cover for him,” Suryakumar said.
Sunday’s match against South Africa might as well be India’s toughest in this tournament. The two teams know each other well. Margins will be slimmer. Bowlers will have a say on the black soil wicket in Ahmedabad.
And that is where Suryakumar may need both his Indias — the one that is bullish and ambitious, and the one that is thoughtful and aware of its own vulnerabilities.
T20 World Cup | T20 World Cup Schedule | T20 World Cup Points Table | T20 World Cup Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
– Ends
