Sachin Tendulkar praises USA [Source: AFP, @rupert_halloway12/x]Team India escaped with a 29-run win over USA in their opening Group A match of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Batting first at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the Indian team slipped to 77-6 in 13 overs before captain Suryakumar Yadav more than doubled the side’s total in the remaining seven overs of the innings. Regardless of India’s comfortable win towards the end, the USA cricket team seems to have earned widespread admiration for their fearless approach against the defending champions and tournament co-hosts. A day after the exhilarating match-up, former Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar also joined in to applaud USA’s spirited effort and fighting display. Sachin Tendulkar signifies importance of USA performance Former Indian cricketer and all-time great Sachin Tendulkar extended his admirations for the USA team after Monank Patel and co. gave Team India a run for their money on the opening day of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Taking to X, Tendulkar signified the importance of USA’s spirited effort, saying that impressive performances of newer teams help to accelerate cricket’s global popularity. He wrote, “A tense start, but a calm finish for Team India. When new teams step up to the occasion, cricket’s global rise accelerates – USA did that yesterday, and their energy and enthusiasm was promising!” Tendulkar lauds captain Suryakumar Yadav Sachin Tendulkar also praised India captain Suryakumar Yadav for leading his side from the front after India’s early collapse. The former cricketer further acknowledged the collective bowling effort after India restricted USA to 132-8 in their chase of 162. Sachin Tendulkar added, “They came close to giving us some nervous moments, but Suryakumar Yadav’s experience and composure under pressure guided India to a respectable total. Our bowlers did the rest for us. Well done Team India, always good to start on a winning note!” Compatible to Sachin Tendulkar’s claims, Suryakumar Yadav did orchestrate one of the fightbacks of the ages for Team India. Batting at number four and arriving to the crease at 45-2, soon to be 46-4 and till 77-6 around 13 overs, the Indian skipper ended up punching 84* from just 49 balls with 10 fours and four huge sixes. The cricketer accumulated 32 of those runs from the remaining 12 deliveries, and shattered a slew of some elite batting records in the process of his counterattacking knock. India marches on, to face Namibia Team India, under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, will now face Namibia in match number 18 of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The match will be hosted by the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on February 12 and the action will commence from 7:00 PM IST onwards. As of now, the Indian team is placed at the top of the Group A points table of the tournament with a formidable NRR of 1.450. Their latest outcome against the USA also extended India’s winning streak in T20 World Cups to nine matches.
