To be honest, there is no rivalry between the two sides

Defending champions India are set to open their ICC T20 World Cup campaign against the United States of America, a country that's sort of a rookie in the world of cricket. On the other hand, India is a mammoth, especially in the T20 format, going into the tournament as the defending champions.

In short, the sides are not rivals, especially since they have met only once and share no history. Still, for the cricket fraternity, here's a glimpse of India vs. the United States of America in cricket ahead of their World Cup opener.

Head-to-head

As mentioned in the above paragraph, there is no rivalry or history between the two sides. The United States of America, being a minnow, has never played any bilateral series against India across formats. As an associate nation, there have been no Test or ODI matches between the two sides. The only match that the two nations have played against each other was during the last T20 World Cup.

India vs. USA, 2024

Similar to this year’s group stage, the two sides were in the same group in the 2024 edition of the tournament. It wasn’t a shock for anybody that India had secured an effortless victory against the Americans.

(Credit- Olympics)

Batting first, the USA batters were put to the test, managing only 110 runs in 20 overs, thanks to four wickets picked by Arshdeep Singh and two by Hardik Pandya. Only two batting performances were worth any praise—24 runs by Steven Taylor and Nitish Kumar’s 27. The rest of the batting line-up did not have much to offer.

(Credit- Indian Express)

In the second innings, surprisingly, the USA bowling line-up made a fiery start by sending Rohit Sharma back to the pavilion in three runs, whereas Virat Kohli ended with a duck. Rishabh Pant also could not stay on the crease for long, as he was wrapped at 18 runs. Finally, Suryakumar Yadav, with his 50 runs, and Shivam Dube, with his 31, stabilised India’s innings, and the Men in Blue won the match by seven wickets with 10 balls to spare.

(Credit- Mid-Day)

India to win

Given India’s cricketing prowess, the Men in Blue are the clear favourites to win their opening game against the United States. However, upsets are part of every sport, and on miraculous days, the United States may manage to steal a victory from the Indian team, but the chances of that happening are extremely low.