The United States opened their 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign with a defeat against co-hosts and title holders- India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, but not without creating some serious moments of doubt for the number one T20I team. 

India Innings

Monank Patel won the toss and put his USA side in to bowl first, a decision that appeared aimed at ensuring a full T20 contest, but, it turned out even better than expected. Through the powerplay, the Americans had the defending champions firmly under pressure.

Ali Khan dismissed the dangerous Abhishek Sharma for a golden duck, and although Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma showed brief resistance, South Africa-born Shadley van Schalkwyk struck three times in the final over of the powerplay. He removed Kishan, Tilak, and Shivam Dube to leave the hosts reeling at 46/4.

India were forced into a cautious rebuild, with skipper Suryakumar “SKY” Yadav and Rinku Singh attempting to steady the innings. The USA, however, continued their dominance. Clever slower deliveries and the introduction of spin paid dividends as Singh, followed by Hardik Pandya, fell to mistimed shots. At 77/6, genuine fear had begun to creep in for the ‘Men in Blue’.

Up until the 13th over, the match followed the perfect script for what could have been the greatest upset in the history of the sport. Sharp fielding, consistently clean catching, and disciplined bowling meant nothing seemed to be going wrong for the Americans.

Then India remembered they were world champions.

Yadav calmly worked his way to a half-century, briefly supported by Axar Patel. Their 41-run partnership ended at 118 for 7 when Patel was dismissed. Yadav also took advantage of the injury to Ali Khan, whom the U.S. captain had been holding back for the death overs. A forced chase towards third man caused Khan to strain his groin, effectively ruling him out of the closing stages.

The loss of Khan, along with Shubham Ranjane who had earlier taken a blow to the knee from an Arshdeep Singh straight drive, disrupted the USA’s plans at the death. Yadav capitalized fully, unleashing a late assault to close the innings.

Hero of 2024, Saurabh Netravalkar, endured a rare off day in this opening fixture. Matters worsened in the final over as he conceded 21 runs to Yadav, finishing with figures of 0/65. The Indian captain remained unbeaten on 84, lifting India to a far more respectable total of 161/9.

USA Innings

In the second innings, the difference in quality between the two sides was evident from the outset. After a confident six from Andries Gous off Mohammed Siraj, the wicketkeeper batter was dismissed a bit later in the same over.

Arshdeep Singh struck in the following over to remove captain Monank Patel, and Siraj soon picked up Saiteja Mukkamalla, leaving the USA struggling at 13/3.

Milind Kumar and Sanjay Krishnamurthi steadied the innings for the remainder of the powerplay. The pair showed occasional flashes that a win was not entirely out of the question, choosing their moments for big shots and running aggressively to keep the pressure on.

Their 58-run partnership ended when a moment of confusion saw Kumar venture too far out of his crease, allowing Ishan Kishan to complete a stumping off Varun Chakravarthy. Kumar departed for 34.

Krishnamurthi continued to push after the fourth wicket but could not carry on much longer. He fell to Chakravarthy in the 16th over for 37. The leg spinner struck again on the very next ball, dismissing Harmeet Singh and effectively burying USA’s chances at 98/6 with four overs remaining.

Ranjane showed commendable fight despite limping through his innings, scoring a valiant 37 that included two fours and three sixes. His effort lifted the USA to 132/8, but they ultimately fell 29 runs short of the target in the opening fixture of the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup.

“We Could Have Batted a Little Better”

Suryakumar Yadav wore a wide smile after securing India’s opening win and claiming the Player of the Match award for his defining 84 off 49 balls. Despite the victory, the skipper was reflective about his side’s performance.

“We could have batted a little better,” Yadav said in the post-match interview, looking back on India’s shaky first innings.

“I think even after winning you learn a lot of things, and today we learned that we could have batted a little better, or maybe a little smarter.”

“Those small partnerships could have gotten us to 160 rather than one or two batters trying to bat until the end,” he added.

“But at the same time, it’s okay. We’ll sit around aaram se (comfortably), we have a lot of time, five days before the next game, and we’ll come back stronger.”

“The players did a great job”

While the result did not go their way, the USA pushed India far closer than anyone expected in this opening match, frequently unsettling the defending champions.

“The players did a great job,” USA captain Monank Patel said proudly in the post-match interview.

“The way they assessed the conditions and the pitch, it wasn’t easy to hit initially in the powerplay. I thought the variations they showed early gave us good momentum and a strong start by taking wickets and keeping them quiet for a long period.”

“I also thought the way we handled the pressure, playing in front of a big crowd against India in the first game of the World Cup, was really good,” he added.

“Overall, I know we made a few mistakes, but we’ll definitely come back stronger.”

While not the ideal result, the USA came close on multiple occasions throughout the match, playing out scenarios few could have imagined. They knocked on the door of a historic upset and will have another chance to open it, again, when they face Pakistan on February 10, as they travel south to Colombo, Sri Lanka.

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