T20 World Cup 2026: Our preparations started right after winning in 2024, says Suryakumar Yadav

India captain Suryakumar Yadav has confirmed that the side has been undergoing their readiness for the 2026 T20 World Cup right since their title-winning campaign in 2024, where the Men in Blue lifted the trophy under Rohit Sharma. The global tournament is set to begin on February 7 and will be played in India and Sri Lanka.

The team has a five-match series against South Africa, starting with the opener in Cuttack on Tuesday, but Suryakumar feels that this is not going to be the start of their actual preparations for the global event. He further associated the situation to how a student can get excellent grades in school exams by studying for the entire year, and not starting haphazardly a few days before the exams.

“Look, our preparations for the T20 World Cup 2026 had already started right after we won the one in 2024. Because ahead of any big tournament, the team cannot think of prepping in the last one or two months, if they want to win,” Suryakumar told the reporters at the pre-match press conference ahead of the first T20I.

“When you give exams as a school goer, you have to study for the whole year or two to be able to pass, and studying just four days before the exam will not help. Likewise, our preparation is also the same. We have been trying to do a few things, and thankfully, they have been working in our favour,” Suryakumar added.

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Ahead of the series against the Proteas, many players from the Indian squad were busy playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025. This includes Varun Chakravarthy, Hardik Pandya, Abhishek Sharma, and Shivam Dube, among the notable names who showed up for the premier domestic 20-over tournament in the build-up to the series.

Regarding domestic cricket, it is the roots for any international player, and the player should never forget that. Whenever they are available to play away from international duties, they must go to the domestic set-up and perform, because the situation is equally challenging there as well," Suryakumar expressed.

"Moreover, if you play in the domestic set-up whenever available, you stay in touch with the game. Abhishek Sharma, and a few other players also played Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 before the series, so they must have learned a few things by playing there. Hence, I feel that playing domestic cricket is very important," he added.

The first match against South Africa will be played on Tuesday, December 9 at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.