Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh reckons India’s batters were stubborn in their approach in the team’s opening clash of the T20 World Cup 2026 against the USA at the Wankhede Stadium, on Saturday.
India kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but didn’t change their aggressive style of batting. The hosts were left reeling at 77-6 and Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav was able to rescue his team as he scored an imperative knock of 84 runs off just 49 balls.
But, Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube were dismissed for golden ducks whereas Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh could not even get to double digits. Tilak Varma and Ishan Kishan got off to starts but could not convert them into big scores.
“Team India have been backing their explosive approach, and they were following that only here, saying that they will keep hitting. But sometimes you have to play the situation. Nevertheless, India will learn a lot from this,” Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube channel.
Singh said Rinku Singh and Hardik Pandya should have shown more maturity when the chips were down.
“When we were four wickets down, I feel that Rinku could have played much better. Even Hardik Pandya could have made a partnership there. But the scores India have put up in the last series like 270, seems like they are still in that mode. But the pressure of a World Cup is something else,” he added.
The Turbanator praised Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav for his match-winning knock. Yadav smashed 10 fours and four sixes to help India post a decent score of 161 runs on the board.
“This match was really important, because the way this match began, it seemed like USA will cause an upset. But credit to Suryakumar Yadav for his knock, because of which India had something to defend. But USA gave a solid fight,” Harbhajan Singh said.
“He had scored only 30 or 32 runs off his first 30 deliveries, then he scored fifty runs off his last 19 deliveries. This shows the skill that he has, and the belief he has in himself,” he added.
India will next take on Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, on February 12.
