Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Fresh from guiding India to a historic T20 World Cup triumph at home, captain Suryakumar Yadav has already set his sights on the next major milestone — Olympic gold at the 2028 Summer Olympics.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!India delivered a dominant performance in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday, thrashing New Zealand by 96 runs to become the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup title and the first to win the trophy three times. The victory also marked the first time a team had lifted the T20 crown on home soil.
Speaking at a celebratory midnight press conference, Suryakumar described the achievement as a defining moment for the team but insisted that the focus was already shifting to future challenges.“It has been very special,” he said as celebrations continued across the country. “And definitely the next goal is Olympics, Olympic gold and also the T20 World Cup that year.”Cricket will return to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles 2028 — the first time the sport will feature in 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 taking shape during the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph under then-captain Rohit Sharma.“I think that drought ended in 2024 after a really long time and from there we never looked back,” Suryakumar said, referring to India’s major title drought following the 2013 Champions Trophy.“We played a different brand of cricket in 2024 and from there we understood how this team needs to work going forward. And it’s been a wonderful journey since then.”Following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from T20 internationals after the 2024 World Cup, Suryakumar took over leadership of the side and has overseen a new era of aggressive cricket.“We wanted to do something special in front of the home crowd,” he said. “We want to continue doing that… and never stop.”
