USA had their moments in Mumbai as they pushed India hard and gave the mighty favourites a scare for the ages. They really troubled the Indians but it was an individual brilliance from the captain of India and an all-round effort from the bowling department meant India came away with a narrow 29-run win. USA had plenty of positives to take out from this game but there were negatives as well. We will try and list out three reasons for USA’s heart-breaking loss to India.
Inability to stop captain Suryakumar Yadav in the end cost USA the game.Â
USA won the toss and elected to field first and what a time they had with the ball. They rocked India by taking out Abhishek Sharma and then got 3 wickets in the final over of powerplay to reduce India to 46/4 in 6 overs. The Indians continued to keep losing wickets and were struggling as USA believed that they could upstage the Indians. USA were in full control but there was one man standing in front of them and that was Suryakumar Yadav the captain.
Surya walked in when the score was 45/2 inside the powerplay and saw wickets falling at the intervals at the other end. Surya dug deep played himself in and stopped the wicket flow before launching later on. There was also a moment in the game when Surya was on 15 and the score was 63 when he was dropped by Shubham Ranjane off his own bowling, a tough chance that went down in the end. Surya capitalised and made the USA pay for their small mistake. USA just ran short of ideas bowling to SKY and got punished.
Going forward, USA needs to plan better and get all the phases right in order to beat India. We felt they had India on the ropes for majority part of the game but towards the end, Suryakumar Yadav with big massive overs took the game away from USA and India with that momentum just about crashed the party of USA as the bowlers were motivated to do well as well.
Losing 3 early wickets for 13 runs inside the first 3 overs pegged USA further back in the chase.Â
USA needed a good solid start in the chase of 162 runs and that would have set the tone and worried India. But it was not to be as they lost wickets inside the first 3 overs of powerplay. Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh breathed fire with the new ball and bamboozled USA batters. Andries Gous was the first to go for 6 to Siraj before Arshdeep Singh got rid of Monank Patel for a silver duck.
If that was not enough, Saiteja Mukkamalla fell to Siraj again and all the dismissals to be honest were soft dismissals. The Indians took it as Mukkamalla went for 2 off 7 balls. USA were 13/3 inside 3 overs when Milind Kumar and Sanjay Krishnamurthi joined forces and made sure USA do not lose another wicket. But they were 31/3 in 6 overs and lagging behind. One can argue that India had lost 4 wickets compared to USA’s 3 but India were ahead in runs and had the finish. This setback meant that USA were playing catch-up.
Going forward, USA will need to get off to a better start in the powerplay chasing 162 as that will enable them get a base and platform to do well. In cricket, base and platform are of immense importance and USA didn’t have that and since they lack depth compared to India, it was bound to be a struggle for them as well. This was an area where they lost out big time. ‘
Failure of Andries Gous and Monank Patel hurt USA’s prospects.Â
Chasing 162 for an unlikely win, USA needed a good start from the top order and in particular Andries Gous and captain Monank Patel. But both failed to fire and this pushed USA further back. Yes, Saurabh Netravalkar also failed with the ball which is rare and that dented USA but 162 was gettable even on a two-paced track but for that USA needed a good solid foundation from the top order and didn’t get it.
Andries Gous and Monank Patel are key players for USA and Patel is the captain of the side. Gous has been in tremendous form leading to the tournament and is a traveller all around the world in leagues and so he was expected to take the responsibility. The same with Monank but both went for low scores. Gous hit a maximum but fell for 6 to Mohammed Siraj while Patel fell for a silver duck as he played a poor shot to Arshdeep Singh as the score was 11/2 when these two failed. They were reduced to 13/3 as well and never really recovered from this setback.
Looking ahead, USA will hope both Gous and Patel comes back in roaring form and if they get their mojo back in the coming games, then it’s going to be great for USA side. They need them in form as the batting is dependent on the duo to do well. USA has batting but it revolves around Patel and Gous and they will hope this failure was a minor failure for them. Let’s see how they respond from this loss.
What Lies Ahead.Â
USA will next go to Colombo, Sri Lanka and face Pakistan on Tuesday night while the Men in Blue India will be back in action on Thursday 12th February in New Delhi in another evening game. More action to come in Day 2 of the tournament as New Zealand takes on Afghanistan followed by England vs Nepal and then Sri Lanka vs Ireland in Sri Lanka.
So, a lot to look forward to for us in the T20 World Cup 2026 with everything at stake.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: Lockie Ferguson Strikes Twice To End Powerplay.