T20 World Cup 2026, Afg vs Can – Canada bowl as Afghanistan leave out Noor Ahmad

Ravi Singh

3 hours ago

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Toss Canada chose to bowl vs Afghanistan

Canada will bowl first against Afghanistan after winning the toss in this final Group D match of 2026’s T20 World Cup.

Both teams have made one change to their XIs. Afghanistan have decided to swap wristspinner Noor Ahmad for pace bowler Abdollah Ahmadzai, while Canada have recalled left-arm quick Kaleem Sana for off spinner Shivam Sharma.

That both teams have decided to lean more towards seam rather than spin suggests how they see conditions under foot in Chennai. Canada skipper Dilpreet Bajwa cited the dew factor as a key factor for opting to chase.

Canada have experience of conditions at Chepauk, following their eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand here on Tuesday. Despite the result, it was opener Yuvraj Samra who stole the show, with 110, off 65 deliveries, that made him the youngest man to register a World Cup century.

Meanwhile, Rashid Khan lamented his side’s early exit, believing they were rocked too hard by the dramatic double Super Over loss against South Africa. Nevertheless, he vowed to end on a high note in front of a crowd teeming with Afghanistan fans.

“It’s not been the kind of end we wanted in this competition,” said Rashid. “We wanted to be in the Super Eight, we wanted to be in the Super Four. The game against South Africa didn’t go our way and put us down.

“We’ll bring our best energy, our best game and we’ll finish off well.”

Navneet Dhaliwal will end his Canada career on Thursday. The 37-year-old former captain is already their highest scorer in the shortest format. Ravindrepal Singh, who did not make the XI, will also retire after this match.

The match is a dead rubber, with both teams out of contention for the Super Eight stage, and will only decide the final placement of the teams in their group.

Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Gulbadin Naib, 4 Sediqullah Atal, 5 Darwish Rasooli, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Abdullah Amazdzai, 11 Ziaur Rahman

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

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