Mumbai, Feb 5 (IANS) With just two days to go for the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at which India will be defending the title they won two years back, skipper Suryakumar Yadav said being the defending champion does not mean they are under pressure of expectations.

As the captains of the participating teams faced the media at the pre-event media briefing, India’s T20 captain was grilled on the pressure on his team, his recent run of form, and the impact of conditions on the performances, considering the conditions the team will be playing in.

SKY said being the defending champion does not spell extra pressure for India, considering the team’s recent form as they handed New Zealand a 4-1 defeat in a five-match T20I series.

“I think the way we’ve been playing, it looks like that. But on a given day, when you play a game, you have to bring your A game on. You have to play good cricket. But there are definitely good 19 teams in the competition, and I’m sure every game will be very important,” Suryakumar Yadav said.

Surya reiterated his recent assertion that he is not out of form but rather short of runs. The Indian captain has scored a couple of valuable half-centuries against New Zealand in the recent series.

“I had said the same thing sitting here – I remember, I’m not out of form, out of runs. But yeah, it’s always good to be back amongst the runs, that too before a big tournament,” said Suryakumar Yadav, considered one of the best batters in T20Is because of his 360-degree strokemaking.

Suryakumar was also questioned over the concern raised by former India captain MS Dhoni, who said, considering the season and the venues, dew could be a major factor impacting the matches. In case of a copious amount of dew, bowling with the wet ball in the second innings has turned out to be a Herculean task.

The Indian captain said dew was something not under their control, and therefore, he would rather focus on things that are in their hands. He said they would continue to do things that have worked for them in recent times — like batting first — without worrying about dew.

“All the matches are important, but at the same time, we’ll see what our strong points are, what kind of cricket we want to play. Dew is not in our control. Sometimes, if you win the toss and do the fielding first and then do the batting, then you don’t get dew. But it’s not in our control. We want to see what’s in our control.

“We’re doing good batting first. And we’re doing total chases too. So there’s no problem with both those things. So whatever the situation will be on the day, be it a league game or a semifinal or final, we’ll decide on the day. If we want to bat, we’ll bat first. The runs on board have always been better. And if you’ve seen, when we’re batting, making runs, and defending, we’ve played so many matches in dew. So we’ve got an idea. And so many people have been playing franchise cricket and international cricket for so many years in the team. So I think that’s a factor that we should get out of the game and we should focus on playing some good cricket,” he added.

Suryakumar also said that he would not like to play only day games to negate the impact of dew on matches because what matters more is how the teams prepare and execute their plans.

“Everyone is playing their A-game. There’s a day game in the tournament. But I feel it’s a good challenge if dew comes. Because this game has become so advanced. You prepare anyway. If dew is going to happen, you prepare for it. So it boils down to how you’re preparing. That is more important. And then when you go on the ground, it’s all autopilot,” said Suryakumar Yadav.

–IANS

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