NEW DELHI: India captain Suryakumar Yadav led from the front with a decisive knock that rescued his team from a precarious position in their opening T20 World Cup match against the USA, as the co-hosts went on to register a comfortable 29-run victory and begin their title defence on a winning note.

Suryakumar launched a counter-attack after India were reduced to 77/6, scoring 84 off 49 balls to paper over the failures of his top and middle-order colleagues. Pacers Mohammad Siraj (2/29) Arshdeep Singh (2/18) and left-arm spinner Axar Patel (2/24) were the pick of the bowlers, after India laboured to 161 for 9.

ONE MAN ARMY: Captain Suryakumar Yadav drags India out of the grave!

Surya, who ended his year-long lean patch in the recently concluded home series against New Zealand and maintained that he was only out of runs, not out of form, admitted he always felt an innings like this was inevitable.

"See, I knew definitely someday it was going to come," Suryakumar said after the match, reflecting on a phase where things weren't quite clicking despite his intent to play responsibly for the team. "Last whole year, I was trying to bat in such a way, hold the innings for the team, but it wasn't happening."

That frustration led to a conscious reset. After the final series of last year against South Africa, Suryakumar decided to step away from the game mentally.

"I left it alone after I played the last series... packed my kit bag, spent a lot of time with family for two weeks," he revealed. The break proved timely. When the new year began and the team assembled in Nagpur, he sensed a shift. "Then started in the new year and when we went to Nagpur, it was a different feeling altogether."

During the USA clash, as wickets kept falling around him, Suryakumar was clear about one thing-India didn't need reckless acceleration. "I always felt that there was a need for a batter to bat till the end," he said. "I never felt that it was a 180–190 wicket. I felt it was a 140 wicket."

That reading of the pitch was reinforced from the dugout. Head coach Gautam Gambhir echoed the same message during a crucial moment. "Gauti Bhai told me the same thing during the break after the 14 overs. He told me, just try and bat till the end, you can cover it any time," Suryakumar recalled.

Batting on his home ground also played a big role in how he paced the innings. Drawing from years of local cricket, he leaned on familiarity rather than flair alone. "Most important thing, I have played a lot of my cricket in Bombay, this wicket and also maidans of Mumbai cricket," he said. "So I know how to bat on similar kind of wickets."