Bogged down by heavy opening losses, Canada and the UAE would be eager to make amends when they take on each other in a Group D clash of the T20 World Cup in New Delhi on Friday.

Drawn into the “Group of Death” alongside three top-10 teams — New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan — both the UAE and Canada face the daunting and unlikely task of making the Super Eight stage.

Their campaigns got off to disappointing starts, with both sides suffering massive defeats.

While Canada, which dominated the Americas Regional Final by winning all six matches, lost their opener to South Africa by 57 runs, the UAE was handed a 10-wicket thrashing by New Zealand.

Canada’s lack of high-quality match exposure over the last four months was evident in their opener. The side was erratic against South Africa, taking some sharp catches but also spilling regulation chances and committing several misfields.

However, there were some positives as well.

They showed grit in their chase of 214, rebuilding their innings after losing early wickets.

Left-arm wrist-spinner Ansh Patel impressed with his variations, removing key batters, including Aiden Markram, while Navneet Dhaliwal’s half-century and middle-order batter Harsh Thaker’s form were encouraging.

“There’s a lot to take; there’s a lot of positives to take… You know Navneet’s innings and the way that we built an innings after losing four wickets. Even with the ball, I don’t think we were that bad in the start; we could have executed better.” Thaker had said after the game against South Africa.

The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, continues to grow as a competitive associate side, having rattled some full member teams in recent years.

They will once again bank on their big-hitting captain Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu to bring their World Cup campaign back on track.

With the ball, UAE looked off colour against New Zealand. The onus will be on left-arm spinner Haider Ali to stifle batters with his accuracy, while seasoned pacer Junaid Siddique could prove effective with his yorkers.

“I think we have to work out how we have to bowl, which line, which length. We have to bowl to the batsman. I think we will look for that in the next games,” Waseem said after the loss against the Kiwis.

The UAE will also draw confidence from their T20 World Cup Qualifier clash against Canada in 2019, when they defeated the North American side by 14 runs.

Teams

Canada: Dilpreet Bajwa (c), Ajayveer Hundal, Ansh Patel, Dilon Heyliger, Harsh Thaker, Jaskarandeep Singh, Kaleem Sana, Kanwarpal Tathgur, Navneet Dhaliwal, Nicholas Kirton, Ravinderpal Singh, Saad Bin Zafar, Shivam Sharma, Shreyas Movva, Yuvraj Samra.

UAE: Muhammad Waseem (c), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Dhruv Parashar, Haider Ali, Harshit Kaushik, Junaid Siddique, Mayank Kumar, Muhammad Arfan, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Haider Shah, Rohid Khan, Sohaib Khan, Simranjeet Singh.

Published – February 13, 2026 02:35 am IST

The Parliament on July 1 congratulated Team India for their world cup victory against South Africa.
| Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK

The Rajya Sabha on July 1 congratulated the House for the victory of the Indian men’s cricket team at the T20 World Cup. The whole country is elated by the spectacular victory of the Men in Blue in the tournament, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said.

On the glorious Saturday in Bridgetown in Barbados, India defeated South Africa in the final match. A stupendous performance by our players who remained undefeated throughout the tournament and this is a testament to their dedication and hard work. It is a celebration of teamwork, resilience, and relentless pursuit of excellence, the Chair said, when the House assembled for the day.

The House could be heard cheering for the team with chants of “India, India!”

“Such historical accomplishments inspire every citizen of our nation to dream big, work hard, and achieve imminence,” Mr. Dhankhar added.  

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He also congratulated the South African team for their excellent performance.

On behalf of the House, I extend my congratulations to the team, the coach, the ground staff, the management, the BCCI and everyone connected with the team, he said. “May they continue to scale new heights, bring laurels to the country and inspire the nation for greater glory in our Amrit Kaal.’”

The Lok Sabha also congratulated the team for the win. Speaker Om Birla congratulated captain Rohit Sharma and members of the Indian cricket team on their T20 World Cup win, saying the country is proud of them.

India on June 29 made history with a nail-biting seven-run win over South Africa. The team won the title after 17 years.