T20 WORLD CUP | It’s all down to ‘Indian mentality’, says Suryakumar

Never has a team entered a men’s T20 World Cup — a format as fickle as the weather — as clear favourites as India in 2026. Captain Suryakumar Yadav attributed it to a fundamental shift in approach, describing it as the emergence of the “Indian mentality”.

“This is the Indian mentality. We have been playing some good brand of cricket for the last two-three years, but we have changed our thinking,” Suryakumar said during the pre-tournament captains’ media interaction here on Thursday.

“Earlier, we used to play bilateral (series) differently than the ICC tournaments, but now, be it an ICC event or (the) Asia Cup or even a bilateral (match), we try to play in the same manner.

“This is why, when we went to play the 2024 T20 World Cup, it did not feel any different. It felt like we have been playing this way for an entire year.

“Even now, the kind of cricket we have been playing for the last year, we will try to play the same way (in the T20 World Cup). And if we play well, the result will also be on our side.”

India’s captain Suryakumar Yadav, front left, and others during the fifth and final T201 cricket match between India and New Zealand, at the Greenfield International Stadium, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

Despite the historical trends — no team having won a T20 World Cup on home soil and none having successfully defended the title — India arrive with unprecedented momentum.

Their struggles in Test cricket aside, the partnership between head coach Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar, which has spanned most of the 17-month cycle, has turned India into a dominant force in the shortest format. Since July 2024, India has lost just six of its 41 T20 Internationals.

Suryakumar did not hesitate in crediting Gambhir for driving the cultural shift within the side.

“It has been a wonderful journey since he (Gambhir) has taken over. The main thing is the atmosphere that he has created in the dressing room — that it’s a team game.

Ishan Kishan celebrates with Hardik Pandya after scoring a century during the 5th T20 International between India and New Zealand at the Greenfield International stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
| Photo Credit:
NIRMAL HARINDRAN

“He has infused that personal milestones should be kept aside and the team goals are more important. It’s been one year since he has been working on it,” he said.

“For example, in the last match in Thiruvananthapuram, Ishan Kishan was in his 90s and he completed his hundred with a six. That is one thing he (Gambhir) is trying in the dressing room, keeping the personal milestones away and focusing on what’s the team’s goal and then the work towards it.”