Suryakumar: LA28 Olympic gold the next goal

Suryakumar: LA28 Olympic gold the next goal

India captain said 'everything changed post-2024' for the white-ball sides

ESPNcricinfo staffPublished: Mar 9, 2026, 2:08 AM (4 hrs ago

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After leading India to their third T20 title, Suryakumar Yadav has set his sights on winning the Olympics gold medal in 2028.

"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," Suryakumar said at his post-final press conference in Ahmedabad. "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 [trophy]. So, [I'm] very happy with that and the next goal is the Olympic gold and also the team that we work with."

Six teams each in the men's and women's categories will contest for Olympic medals between July 14 and 29 in 2028 after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed cricket to be added to the roster for the first time since the Paris 1900 Olympics. Based on the current ICC T20 rankings, in both men's and women's competitions, India are set to qualify from Asia. All the matches will be held at the Fairgrounds Stadium, a temporary, purpose-built venue in the city of Pomona, about 50km from Los Angeles

India men are the current holders of the Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup titles. Suryakumar identified the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph, under Rohit Sharma, in Barbados as a turning point.

"Everything was changed post-2024. We played a different kind of cricket in 2024 and from there we understood how this team needs to work forward, play forward and it's been a wonderful journey since then," Suryakumar said. "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."

Suryakumar YadavIndiaIndia vs New ZealandSummer Olympics Men's Cricket CompetitionICC Men's T20 World Cup