Canada, UAE face each other for only the second time in T20Is

NEW DELHI (Web Desk) –The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will take on Canada in the 20th match of the 2026 T20 World Cup in New Delhi today (Friday).

UAE are the more experienced, and better performing, side when compared to Canada, though there isn't much to separate them in the T20I rankings. UAE are 17th, Canada 19th. They have also had more exposure against high-quality opposition between the previous T20 World Cup and this one, playing 11 matches against Full Members while Canada have played none.

UAE, however, were disrupted ahead of their tournament opener, with top-order batter Muhammad Zohaib being sent home. The ECB said it was for "disciplinary reasons". The ICC said it was due to "player mental well-being and team welfare issues". Zohaib reportedly said he was forced out.

UAE had to rejig their combination and ended up losing their first game to New Zealand by ten wickets in Chennai. They got half-centuries from Muhammad Waseem and Alishan Sharafu but not much from anyone else, and their bowlers conceded the target of 174 in 15.2 overs.

Canada also suffered a heavy defeat against South Africa in Ahmedabad, where they conceded 213 for 4 and made only 156 in response, with only Navneet Dhaliwal and Harsh Thaker getting past 20 in the chase.

These two teams have faced each other only once before the T20Is - back in 2019, when UAE won by 14 runs in Abu Dhabi.

Alishan Sharafu matched Muhammad Waseem shot for shot during their 107-run stand for the second wicket against New Zealand. Sharafu, 23, struck the ball cleanly and played both an aggressive yet supporting role in the company of Waseem. He had a poor run of scores leading into this T20 World Cup and UAE will hope the 55 in Chennai is a turnaround in form.

"Damien Martyn, eat your heart out!" said Danny Morisson on commentary, when Navneet Dhaliwal played a back-foot punch through the off side. Dhaliwal rose onto his toes as he punched Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi through the tightly set field. He struck seven fours and a six during his 64 off 49 balls against New Zealand. Dhaliwal, incidentally, was the Canada captain when they played UAE in that T20I in 2019.

UAE could bring in Muhammad Jawadullah as a seam-bowling option. They also have Muhammad Farooq and Simranjeet Singh on the bench, while Haider Shah replaced Zohaib in the squad.

UAE (probable): 1 Aryansh Sharma (wk), 2 Muhammad Waseem (capt), 3 Alishan Sharafu, 4 Harshit Kaushik, 5 Mayank Kumar, 6 Sohaib Khan, 7 Muhammad Arfan, 8 Dhruv Parashar, 9 Haider Ali, 10 Junaid Siddique, 11 Muhammad Rohid

Canada (probable): 1 Dilpreet Bajwa (capt), 2 Yuvraj Samra, 3 Navneet Dhaliwal, 4 Nicholas Kirton, 5 Shreyas Movva (wk), 6 Harsh Thaker, 7 Saad Bin Zafar, 8 Jaskaran Singh, 9 Dilon Heyliger, 10 Kaleem Sana, 11 Ansh Patel