Three matches were played on the opening day of the 10th edition of the T20 World Cup. Two of them went down to the wire, with India and Pakistan surviving scares against the USA and the Netherlands, respectively, while West Indies comfortably defeated Scotland.
It was a day of individual brilliance. For India, captain Suryakumar Yadav stood out with the bat. Faheem Ashraf pulled Pakistan out of a hole in a tricky run chase, while Romario Shepherdâs hat-trick and Shimron Hetmyerâs half-century ensured the Windies got over the line.
The action doesnât stop as three more cracking contests line up on Day 2 of the ongoing global event. New Zealand meet Afghanistan in Chennai, England face Nepal in Mumbai, before we head to Sri Lanka where the hosts take on Ireland.
For now, this is all we have for you. This is Ajay Pal Singh signing off on behalf of my colleagues AkshayaKrishna Polya, Pritam Dey, Manish Bishnoi and Aman. Good night!!!!
Suryakumar Yadav (India Captain): "[Thoughts when the score was 77/6] Actually, only I can tell how much pressure we were in at that time. But at the same time, I had that belief. I have batted in similar situations a lot. I have played in the maidans of Mumbai a lot, I knew if I batted through the end, I could make a difference.
[Thoughts on the Wankhede surface] It was a little different wicket as compared to the traditional Wankhede wicket. We knew when we woke up in the morning, there was not a lot of sun outside. Curator and the groundsmen tried their best but some things are not in their control. There wasnât enough sunlight to have the pitch rolled and watered. But we cannot brush everything under the carpet, we could have batted well.
[On what the chat will be inside the dressing room] I think after winning, you get to learn a lot of things. We could have batted a little better or a little smarter. Those little partnerships could have got us to 160 rather than 1 or 2 batters trying to play till the end. We will sit around and have a lot of time, 5 days till the next game. We will come back stronger.
[On injury updates of players] Washi is joining us in Delhi. Bumrah had a high fever because of the weather. Like Abhishek was under the weather, the rest are all fine."
Monank Patel (USA Captain): "(On his team's performance) I thought our bowlers did a great job. The way they assessed the condition, the pitch, it wasn't easy to hit initially in the powerplay and I thought the variations that they showed initially. It gave us good momentum and a good start by getting wickets. We kept them quiet for a long period. Here and there, we dropped a few catches that cost us the game. I thought we could have restricted them to around 130.
(On allowing India to score 160+) I thought 160 was a good score. We will take this score any day on this wicket. Our top 3 couldn't perform, soft dismissals initially in the first 3 overs. That did too much damage to our batting lineup, and our batters had to take too much time to settle. I thought the intent was a bit missing there because we lost a few wickets initially. But a lot of learning from this game and a lot of positives to take. And definitely, this game is going to help us move forward.
(Crucial positive from tonight's game) I thought the way we handled the pressure playing in front of the big crowd and playing against India, the first game of the World Cup, I thought we managed things really well. Yeah, our batting line-up didn't click, but there were a lot of positives, Milind Kumar, Shubham Ranjane and Sanjay Krishnamurthi- the way they played, I thought it's going to help us in the next 3 games. Overall, I know we made a few mistakes, but we'll definitely come back stronger."
Most Player of the Match Awards in T20 WCs for India:
Most Player of the Match Awards for India in T20Is:
17 - Suryakumar Yadav*
16 - Virat Kohli
14 - Rohit Sharma
8 - Axar Patel
7 - Yuvraj Singh, Jasprit Bumrah
Suryakumar Yadav (POTM): "(On his innings)I knew definitely some day it was going to come. In the whole of 2025, I was trying to bat in such a way, hold the innings for the team, but it wasn't happening. But then I left it alone after I played the last series of last year against South Africa. Packed my kit bag, spent a lot of time with family for two weeks. Then started in the new year, and when we went to Nagpur, it was a different feeling altogether.
(On adapting to the conditions tonight) I always felt that there was a need for a batter to bat till the end. I never felt that it was a 180-190 wicket. I felt it was a 140 wicket. But then Gauti bhai told me the same thing during the break after the 14 overs. He told me, just try and bat till the end, you can cover it any time. And also, the most important thing, I have played a lot of my cricket in Bombay, this wicket and also the maidans of Mumbai cricket. So I know how to bat on a similar kind of wicket.
(On batting approach at 77/6) Absolutely. I mean, 77 for 6 and then from there, batting till the end. You had to understand that one batter had to bat till the end. I just kept counting who was about to bowl at that time and checked on how many balls were left, and I was just trying to play good shots and my shots."
Player of the Match: Suryakumar Yadav
DID YOU KNOW? A total of 14 catches were taken by fielders in tonightâs T20 World Cup match â the highest ever in a single game in the tournament.