India captain set sights on Olympic gold after T20 World Cup triumph

The hosts thoroughly outplayed New Zealand in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday to win by 96 runs and defend the title they won in Barbados in 2024.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has added cricket to the roster for the first time since the Paris 1900 Olympics for the next Games that will be held in 2028.

Six teams each (based on world rankings) in the men's and women's categories will contest for Olympic medals between July 14 and 29 at a temporary, purpose-built stadium in the city of Pomona.

Speaking after winning the T20 World Cup, Suryakumar said: "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 (trophy).

"So, (I'm) very happy with that and the next goal is the Olympic gold and also the team that we work with."

Suryakumar said the 2024 T20 World Cup victory and the 2025 Champions Trophy, both under leadership of Rohit Sharma, was major turning points for India.

"Everything changed post-2024," Suryakumar added. "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.

"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."

READ MORE: Wiaan Mulder called up to Proteas T20I squad as injury replacement