Having sealed their spot in the Super Eight stage of the 2024 T20 World Cup, Team India will next face Canada in their final Group A match on Saturday. India have played all of their games at New York’s Nassau County International Stadium but their next match against Canada will be held in Lauderhill, Florida before moving to the Caribbean for the Super Eight stage.
T20 World Cup 2024: News | Schedule | Results | Points Table
Canada are relatively a new opponent and India have never faced them before in a T20I. The Maple Leafers are in fourth place of the five-team standings in Group A, with two points from three matches. They find themselves in a tricky position as far as their qualification hopes to the next round is concerned.
Ahead of the India vs Canada match in the T20 World Cup, here’s all you need to know about Canada, and how they have performed so far in the showpiece event.
All you need to know about Canada cricket team
This is Canada’s first appearance at a T20 World Cup, despite having made six appearances at the T20 World Cup Qualifiers previously. This is in contrary to their ODI World Cup appearances, wherein they have featured four times.
In this edition of the T20 World Cup, Canada, who are being led by Pakistan-born Saad Bin-Zafar, have had mixed outings so far. Canada began with a seven-wicket loss to co-hosts USA in Dallas, where Navneet Dhaliwal and Nicholas Kirton scored fifties to take them to 194/5. USA, however, chased that down with seven wickets to spare, riding on an unbeaten 94 from Aaron Jones.
Also read | T20 World Cup Group A clashes in Florida under rain threat
In their next match, Canada defeated Ireland by 12 runs, with Kirton’s 49 and an impressive contribution from the bowlers led by Jeremy Gordon (2/16) headlining their win. That was their first-ever win at a T20 World Cup.
In their third match against Pakistan, the Men in Red were completely outplayed by Babar Azam and Co. Aaron Johnson’s 52 was the only notable contribution with the bat as Canada were restricted to 106/7, before Mohammad Rizwan (53) and Babar Azam (33) guided Pakistan to a seven-wicket win.
Ever since their first-ever T20I, against Netherlands on 2 August, 2008, Canada have played a total of 61 matches in the shortest format, winning 31, with two matches ending in a tie and one match getting abandoned.
Who are some of the key players for Canada?
Nicholas Kirton: Although he does not have a brilliant record for Canada with the bat, all-rounder Nicholas Kirton has showcased consistency in two of Canada’s three matches in the T20 World Cup, with scores of 51 and 49. He has proven himself to be a vital part of the Canada middle order.
Shreyas Movva: Shreyas Movva, a wicketkeeper-batter, is a newbie in international cricket, having only made his debut in 2021 in a T20I against Panama. Like Kirton, Shreyas was productive with the bat against USA (32*) and Ireland (37).
Saad Bin Zafar: One of the most experienced players in the current lineup is Saad Bin Zafar, the team captain. He is an all-rounder who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm orthodox. It’s his bowling that stands out, with 44 wickets from 41 T20Is, with best figures of 3/8 against Cayman Islands in 2019.
