All roads will lead to the iconic Wankhede Stadium come Saturday evening as Suryakumar Yadav’s India will take on Monank Patel’s USA in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match.
Mumbai will be in the grip of World Cup fever from February 7th until perhaps March 5th as the cricket capital of India will be hosting eight matches of the tournament including the semifinal on March 5th.
The first installment of the World Cup action will get underway on Saturday as a dominant India face USA with the defending champions expected to register an overwhelming victory against the minnows from North America.
What makes the match even more special is India will be led by a Mumbaikar, Suryakumar Yadav, who will be aiming to carry on and sustain the legacy left by another legendary Mumbaikar under whose captaincy India clinched the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados.
The match is expected to be a full-house at the cavernous Wankhede with home fans rooting for India and their favourite ‘Surya bhau’, who will bring in the much-loved local flavour to go with the overriding national sentiment as India chase their third T20 World Cup title to add to the wins in 2007 and 2024.
India are on a winning spree as far as T20Is are concerned with a 48-8 win-loss record since October 2023 to January 2026 and with the kind of batting firepower in their ranks, the holders will be expected to go all the way in the competition and retain the prestigious title.
There will be an interesting Mumbai connection in the USA ranks as well with Borivali boy Saurabh Netravalkar part of the squad.
Netravalkar had famously played a big part in the USA stunning Pakistan at the 2024 T20 World Cup group game where he bowled the Super Over and took them over the line.
He also has the distinction of having taken the wickets of India greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma during the USA’s clash against India in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
So, it will be a deja vu moment for the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Saurabh Netravalkar in different ways when they face off in their home city.
