Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth reckons Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav is more focused on his leadership than his batting amid the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. Srikkanth said SKY had a golden opportunity to play a match-winning knock against the West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata but he could not grab his opportunity.

Barring scoring a brilliant knock of 84 runs off just 49 balls in the team’s opening game against the USA, SKY hasn’t been at his absolute best.

Yadav was dismissed after scoring 18 runs off 16 balls against the West Indies on Sunday. SKY has scored 231 runs in seven matches of the tournament at an average of 38.50 and a strike rate of 135.88.

Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “Surya seems to be more focused on his captaincy. He is forgetting about his batting. It was a great opportunity to play a captain’s knock and win in Kolkata. Playing a winning knock in Kolkata is a huge thing.”

Srikkanth praised head coach Gautam Gambhir and the management for backing Sanju Samson to the hilt. Samson scored a match-winning knock of 97 runs off just 50 balls against the WI.

“Hats off to Gautam Gambhir and the team management. They kept coming back to Sanju Samson. But if Rinku Singh had clicked in some match in the middle, Sanju Samson would not have played. Both were failing, and one of them had to play. But now Sanju has established himself with this knock. Hereafter, you can’t touch him from the opening slot,” he said.

The 1983 World Cup-winning player said England will be under the pump as Indian players have a lot of experience of playing at the Wankhede.

“After this win of India, England will be shivering. Mumbai is the home ground or adopted home ground for many of the Indian players in the team,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

India will take on England in the second semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on Thursday.