NEW DELHI: If we look down the points table of the so-called Group of Death of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, the story is already familiar. New Zealand and South Africa are battling for supremacy, with Afghanistan almost sidelined after two defeats.The two Associate nations, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Canada, are anchored to the bottom, somewhat in search of their first taste of World Cup joy.
For both teams, Friday’s clash appears to be the clearest opportunity to walk away from this tournament with something to celebrate.Canada shared the Arun Jaitley Stadium with champions India on Wednesday. The co-hosts conducted an optional training session on one side of the ground while the Canadians went through a marathon four-hour net session under lights.UAE, meanwhile, had a scheduled rest day.With the main venue occupied by the India vs Namibia match on Thursday, UAE had to shift their training base to the Palam A Stadium, about 18 km away from Arun Jaitley Stadium, to finish their preparations ahead of their game on Friday.Both sides have endured winless warm-up campaigns and defeats in their opening World Cup fixtures: Canada against South Africa and UAE against New Zealand.
UAE handed a historic 10-wicket defeat to New Zealand in their tournament opener (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Yet, the Canadian camp has been open about what they took from the experience.“It was a good experience. We had two warm-up matches in Italy and one with South Africa. We were trying different combinations in the warm-up matches,” Saad Bin Zafar told TimesofIndia.com on the sidelines of their net session at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.“The game against South Africa was obviously the first game of the World Cup against such a big country. Top nation. So, there were some nerves as well. Now, we had a decent game. So, the nerves have settled down a bit.”For Canada, the UAE clash represents a genuine opening.“So, the UAE game is very important for us. Both are Associate countries. So, it’s an equal opportunity for both to achieve their first win in the World Cup. So, we are taking it very seriously and looking forward to it. Hopefully, we will win and open our points table scorecard,” added Bin Zafar, a 39-year-old all-rounder who wants to use his years of experience during the rest of the campaign.
Canada’s Navneet Dhaliwal, left, and Harsh Thaker run between the wickets during the T20 World Cup cricket match between Canada and South Africa in Ahmedabad, India. (Photo by AP)
20-year-old Canadian all-rounder Ajayveer Hundal feels that the 57-run defeat to South Africa has only boosted their confidence.“I think the biggest thing for Associate teams, especially, is we’re not exposed to this level of competition all the time,” he said. “This is a pretty similar South African team to the one that went to the final, the previous edition… the biggest thing that people took away from this game was confidence. We faced it once. We know what to expect now. And we’re looking to capitalise on the next.”ALSO READ: Exclusive | From ice hockey to T20 World Cup 2026’s youngest talents: Ajayveer Hundal finds ‘great feeling’ in DelhiAhead of the battle of two Associate nations, Bin Zafar, under whose captaincy Canada regained their ODI status in 2024, reinstates what the Associate nations lack: “The only difference is that we don’t get enough opportunities to play cricket against good countries regularly. We only get that opportunity at the World Cup stage.“We can compete with the Test-playing nations in a better way if we get more opportunities because there is not much difference in skill level.”
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