India’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav, teased his left-arm pacer, Arshdeep Singh on the team bus post their 29-run victory against the United States of America (USA) at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai during the T20 World Cup 2026. The right-handed batter hilariously stated that the Punjab-born had earned the spot to bat at number eight. 

The 22-run partnership off 14 deliveries between Suryakumar Yadav and Arshdeep provided India the required momentum as the blue brigade struggled on a tricky surface. Arshdeep, who came to bat in the 17th over, opened his account by slamming one over the left-arm spinner, Harmeet Singh’s head for a vital boundary.

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“Thank you, paaji. Partnership ekdam tagdi rahi, maza aa gaya. Aapse thoda sa motivation mila tujhe. Aapne hee contribute kiya. Intent aapka unbelievable tha. Jahan se aapne chaunka maara udhar se hee game change ho gaya. Aapne earn kar liya batting No.8 par.” In a video that went viral on the social media platforms, Suryakumar told Arshdeep about the latter’s new batting position.

Suryakumar Yadav gives Arshdeep Singh new batting spot in T20 WC 2026

Sky remained undefeated on 84 runs in 49 balls at a strike rate of 171.43, with the help of 10 boundaries and four sixes to shoulder them over the 160-run mark. Tilak Varma was the second highest run-getter for them with 25 runs.

Watch the video here: 

The post match conversation between Surya and Arshdeep Singh 😂 pic.twitter.com/G5ZOJeTgzF

— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) February 8, 2026

“Only I can tell how much pressure I was feeling. but I had the belief. I knew if I bat till the end, I can make a difference. It was a little different wicket. But we knew when we woke up, there was not a lot of sun outside. Curator tried their best. There was not enough sunlight to have the pitch rolled and watered. We cannot brush everything under the carpet, we need to bat much better.” Sky addressed at the post-match presentation.

In reply, USA got bundled out for 132 runs for the lose of eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs with three of their batters crossing the 30-run mark individually.

Brief Scores: IND 161/9 (Suryakumar Yadav 84*, Shadley van Schalkwyk 4/25) beat USA 132/8 (Shubham Ranjane 37, Mohammad Siraj 3/29, Arshdeep Singh 2/18) by 29 runs.