Chennai, February 19 Canada won the toss and chose to bowl first against Afghanistan in their final Group D match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday. This match also marks the final game for veteran batter Navneet Dhaliwal in international cricket.
Pacer Kaleem Sana has returned to the Canadian playing eleven, replacing Shivam Sharma. "The pitch didn't change much from the previous game, and also due to the dew factor. We need to bowl more aggressively and avoid giving away too many loose balls," said Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa.
He also revealed that, apart from Dhaliwal, Ravinderpal Singh, who is not in the playing eleven, is also retiring from international cricket after Thursday's match. "This is their final game. It's a very sad moment for Cricket Canada. Both are legends. One is our run-scoring machine, and the other is our energy machine, so we will miss them, and hopefully, it's a good opportunity for upcoming young players in Canada," added Bajwa.
Afghanistan also has one change, with Abdullah Amadzai replacing left-arm wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad. "This is not the end we wanted in this competition, and I believe we have the skills, but that game against South Africa put us down. We need to make the nation proud and finish well," said captain Rashid Khan.
Playing XIs
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan (captain), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ziaur Rahman, and Abdullah Ahmadzai
Canada: Yuvraj Samra, Dilpreet Bajwa (captain), Navneet Dhaliwal, Harsh Thaker, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva (wk), Saad Bin Zafar, Dilon Heyliger, Jaskarandeep Singh, Kaleem Sana, and Ansh Patel
