‘Mujhe unki chinta hai jinhe Abhishek ki chinta hai’:Suryakumar Yadav backs India opener, says team ‘got good wake-up call against USA’ | WATCH

Mujhe unki chinta hai jinhe Abhishek ki chinta hai . A day before the first Super 8 clash against South Africa, India captain Suryakumar Yadav addressed the media, where he backed Abhishek Sharma despite the India opener experiencing a brief run slump. He is currently the no. 1 T20I batter and has suffered a hat-trick of ducks in the three games that he has played in the T20 World Cup 2026. He touched on all the aspects of the play that India is struggling with, whether it be the offspin issue, tacky pitches, or the slow run rate in the middle by Tilak Varma. However, the one that stood out the most was Surya stating how an associate nation like the USA gave a reality check to the tournament favourites in their first match. Let’s take a look at what Suryakumar Yadav said about Abhishek Sharma and India’s set of troubles before kicking off the Super 8 campaign. ‘Mujhe unki chinta hai jinhe Abhishek ki chinta hai’: Suryakumar Yadav Speaking at the pre-match press conference in Ahmedabad, India captain responded on form of Abhishek Sharma, who is yet to score a run in this WC. When asked about the India opener, Surya backed him, saying, “I am worried about the people who are worrying about Abhishek Sharma. I am more concerned for the teams that will face him later. He did everything last year, now it’s time for us to return the favour.” Also Read: WATCH | Vaibhav Sooryavanshi breaks pipe during IPL training ‘Got a good wake-up call against USA’: Surya on pressure of playing WC at home Apart from concern about Abhishek Sharma, Surya also addressed the pressure of playing the T20 World Cup at home during the press conference. He revealed how the tight game against an associate nation like the USA gave them a wake-up call about staying in the present. He said, “It’s very difficult to say there’s no pressure. When you’re playing on homesoil there is definitely pressure. At the same time, every individual deals with it differently. We’re trying our best to keep it simple. We try to be present and grounded. We got a good wake-up call againstthe USA, which helped us stay in the moment and not think too much.” It is worth noting that India were 77/6 in 12.4 overs at one point, and then Suryakumar Yadav(84) led his side to 161/9 in 20 overs. Bowlers did the rest of the job for Men in Blue as they restricted the American side to 132/8 in 20 overs. ‘Against off spinners there have been ups and down’ While speaking about Men in Blue’s struggle against offspin in this tournament, India T20 captain said, “It doesn’t matter who bowls, right arm off spinner or anyone else. We’ve played enough to know how to take on anyone. The batters in their individual capacity have their game plan and know what to do. Against off-spinners, there have been ups and downs.” Also Read: Associate nations troubled India, Pakistan and England:Demand ‘more games’ against top ICC teams after T20 World Cup ‘Ready to adapt to any wickets’: Surya on unpredictable pitches The pitches have not turned out to be as expected for teams in this World Cup. For example, the Ahmedabad pitch has been predicted batting wicket multiple times, but for the last three games at the venue, it turned out to be a bit tacky. While addressing this concern, Suryakumar Yadav said, “We are ready to adapt to any wickets. We’ve played on tricky pitches so far; we know what kind of batting we need on them.” India to meet South Africa on February 22 for Super 8 game Team India will play their first Super-8 game in the T20 World Cup 2026 against South Africa on February 22 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Both teams have been unbeaten in their respective groups, so there is expected to be a fair fight between the two, recreating the 2024 WC final clash.