T20 World Cup: UAE offers hope of first smile — but can Canada capitalise?

NEW DELHI: If we look down the points array of the alleged Group of Death of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, the communicative is already familiar. New Zealand and South Africa are battling for supremacy, with Afghanistan astir sidelined aft 2 defeats.The 2 Associate nations, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Canada, are anchored to the bottom, somewhat successful hunt of their archetypal sensation of World Cup joy.

For some teams, Friday’s clash appears to beryllium the clearest accidental to locomotion distant from this tourney with thing to celebrate.Canada shared the Arun Jaitley Stadium with champions India connected Wednesday. The co-hosts conducted an optional grooming league connected 1 broadside of the crushed portion the Canadians went done a marathon four-hour nett league nether lights.UAE, meanwhile, had a scheduled remainder day.With the main venue occupied by the India vs Namibia lucifer connected Thursday, UAE had to displacement their grooming basal to the Palam A Stadium, astir 18 km distant from Arun Jaitley Stadium, to decorativeness their preparations up of their crippled connected Friday.Both sides person endured winless warm-up campaigns and defeats successful their opening World Cup fixtures: Canada against South Africa and UAE against New Zealand.

Yet, the Canadian campy has been unfastened astir what they took from the experience.“It was a bully experience. We had 2 warm-up matches successful Italy and 1 with South Africa. We were trying antithetic combinations successful the warm-up matches,” Saad Bin Zafar told TimesofIndia.com connected the sidelines of their nett league astatine the Arun Jaitley Stadium connected Wednesday.“The crippled against South Africa was evidently the archetypal crippled of the World Cup against specified a large country.

Top nation. So, determination were immoderate nerves arsenic well. Now, we had a decent game. So, the nerves person settled down a bit."For Canada, the UAE clash represents a genuine opening.“So, the UAE crippled is precise important for us. Both are Associate countries. So, it’s an adjacent accidental for some to execute their archetypal triumph successful the World Cup. So, we are taking it precise earnestly and looking guardant to it. Hopefully, we volition triumph and unfastened our points array scorecard,” added Bin Zafar, a 39-year-old all-rounder who wants to usage his years of acquisition during the remainder of the campaign.

20-year-old Canadian all-rounder Ajayveer Hundal feels that the 57-run decision to South Africa has lone boosted their confidence.“I deliberation the biggest happening for Associate teams, especially, is we’re not exposed to this level of contention each the time,” helium said. “This is simply a beauteous akin South African squad to the 1 that went to the final, the erstwhile edition… the biggest happening that radical took distant from this crippled was confidence.

We faced it once. We cognize what to expect now. And we’re looking to capitalise connected the next.”ALSO READ: Exclusive | From crystal hockey to T20 World Cup 2026’s youngest talents: Ajayveer Hundal finds ‘great feeling’ successful DelhiAhead of the conflict of 2 Associate nations, Bin Zafar, nether whose captaincy Canada regained their ODI presumption successful 2024, reinstates what the Associate nations lack: “The lone quality is that we don’t get capable opportunities to play cricket against bully countries regularly. We lone get that accidental astatine the World Cup stage."We tin vie with the Test-playing nations successful a amended mode if we get much opportunities due to the fact that determination is not overmuch quality successful accomplishment level.”