Team India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav has stated that his next goal is to win the gold medal in Olympics in 2028. Reflecting on the Men in Blue’s T20 World Cup 2026 triumph, the 35-year-old described the achievement as a very special one.

India hammered New Zealand by 96 runs in a disappointingly one-sided final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 8. Asked to bat first, the defending champions posted a mammoth total of 255-5. In their response, the Black Caps were never in the hunt and were bowled out for 159 in 19 overs.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Suryakumar shared his thoughts on the historic win and also opened up on his future goals. He stated:

“Obviously it has been a wonderful journey in the last one month, though it didn’t start the way we wanted it to start, but then it’s part of the sport. Throughout the journey till today it has been very special and collectively as a team what we have achieved I think is right in front of you. So, very happy with that and the next goal is the Olympic gold and also the team that we work with.”

Six teams in both the men’s and women’s categories will be part of the cricket competition in the 2028 Olympics. Cricket will be featuring multi-sport event for the first time since the Paris 1900 Olympics. India are set to qualify from Asia on the basis of their ICC T20I rankings.

“We played different kind of cricket in 2024” – Suryakumar Yadav on Rohit Sharma’s impact

While praising the current Indian team, Suryakumar Yadav also credited his predecessor Rohit Sharma for bringing about a distinct change in the playing style of the team. The right-handed batter opined that everything changed in Indian cricket in 2024, when they went on to lift the T20 World Cup. Suryakumar stated:

“We played different kind of cricket in 2024 and from there we understood how this team needs to work forward, and it’s been a wonderful journey since then. We won an ICC Champions Trophy in 2025, played a completely different kind of cricket and now in 2026, we wanted to do something special in front of the home crowd. So we want to continue doing that in 2027, 2028, 2029 and never stop.”

Opener Sanju Samson continued his brilliant form in the T20 World Cup, slamming 89 off 46 in the final on Sunday. With the ball, Jasprit Bumrah (4-15) was exceptional, while Axar Patel picked up 3-27.