New Delhi: Fresh off leading India to a historic T20 World Cup victory at home, captain Suryakumar Yadav has set his sights on the next big milestone – Olympic gold at the 2028 Summer Games.
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India became the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup title and the first to win the trophy three times after a superb performance in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday, defeating New Zealand by 96 runs. The victory also marked the first time a team had lifted the T20 crown on home soil.
Speaking at a midnight celebratory press conference, Suryakumar called the achievement a defining moment for the team but insisted the focus had turned to the challenges ahead.
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“It’s very special,” he said, as celebrations continued across the country. “The next goal is definitely the Olympics, Olympic gold medals, and the T20 World Cup that year.”
Cricket will return to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, the first time the sport has entered the Olympics since 1900, opening a new chapter for international cricket.
India’s recent dominance in the shortest format has been built on a fearless attacking style that began to take shape during the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning run under then-captain Rohit Sharma.
“I think, after a long time, the drought ended in 2024 and we have never looked back since then,” Suryakumar said, referring to India’s major title drought after the 2013 Champions Trophy.
“We played a different brand of cricket in 2024 and from that point on we understood how the team needed to continue to work. It’s been a fantastic journey since then.”
After Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from the T20 international team after the 2024 World Cup, Suryakumar took over the leadership of the team and ushered in a new era of attacking cricket.
“We wanted to do something special in front of a home crowd,” he said. “We want to keep doing this…never stop.”