Canada vs India June 15, Lauderhill, Florida, 10.30am local time
Big picture: Rain threat in Florida
Canada are facing their toughest test of the T20 World Cup as India aim to go into the Super 8 stage with a clean sheet, but the fixture is at the mercy of the weather in Florida. Friday’s game between USA and Ireland was washed out at the venue, and there’s an 85% chance of rain on Saturday.
If the game does go ahead, India could test out their bench strength. They have played the same XI in their first three group games, but with qualification secure and no points advantage carried forward to the Super Eight, they could give the likes of Kuldeep Yadav or Sanju Samson some game time.
India’s final group game is also Virat Kohli’s last chance to find form before the more competitive Super Eight stage. Of all the batters itching to get out of New York, he is right up there. His move to the top of the order has yielded scores of 4, 1 and 0, and Kohli is not even among the top 150 run-scorers of the tournament. He does not have exceptional numbers in Florida, though: 63 runs in three innings at an average of 21.00.
With USA confirming their Super Eight berth from Group A along with India, Canada have been knocked out, having earned only two points from their first three games. They have been competitive at their first T20 World Cup though, having scored 194 in their opening game against USA and then securing a comfortable win against Ireland. They even gave Pakistan a scare, and will hope to sign off at their best against their most high-profile opponents.
Form guide: India on a roll
India WWWWW (last five matches, most recent first) Canada LWLLL
In the spotlight: Aaron Johnson and Hardik Pandya
Despite making his T20I debut only in November 2022, Aaron Johnson is already Canada’s second highest run-scorer. He had a tremendous start to his international career, scoring four fifties and one century in his first seven T20I innings, and has sustained his form. No other Canada batter has more runs than Johnson’s 400 in 12 innings since the start of 2023. He is coming into this game on the back of a confident 52 against Pakistan.
Hardik Pandya has not had much to do with the bat, but has been an asset with the ball. He is India’s joint highest wicket-taker so far in the competition, with seven wickets in three games, and has stifled batters in the middle overs. Hardik has hit those hard lengths and finished the New York leg with an economy of 5.41.
Team news: Will India give Kuldeep a go?
Canada’s move to bring in Ravinderpal Singh for Dilpreet Bajwa did not work, with Ravinderpal out for a second-ball duck. They might go back to Bajwa against India.
Canada (probable XI): 1 Aaron Johnson, 2 Navneet Dhaliwal, 3 Pargat Singh, 4 Nicholas Kirton, 5 Shreyas Movva (wk), 6 Ravinderpal Singh/Dilpreet Bajwa, 7 Dilon Heyliger, 8 Saad Bin Zafar (capt), 9 Kaleem Sana, 10 Junaid Siddiqui, 11 Jeremy Gordon
India could rest one of their fast bowlers and bring in Kuldeep, whose wristspin might be required in the Super Eight stage in the West Indies.
Thursday was dry but Friday was a washout in Lauderhill. The forecast for Saturday morning is not promising, with scattered thunderstorms predicted throughout the day.
Stats and trivia
Apart from West Indies, who play some international matches here, India have played the most T20Is (eight) in Lauderhill: five wins, two defeats and one washout.
Rohit Sharma is the top-scorer in T20Is at this venue: 196 runs, with two half-centuries in in five innings.
Arshdeep Singh has the second most T20I wickets in Lauderhill: seven in four innings, with an economy of 7.88.
Arshdeep has bowled six overs in the powerplay at this T20 World Cup and conceded just one boundary.
Out of the 56 overs India have bowled in the tournament, only nine have been delivered by spinners
Canada have never faced India in a T20I.
Quotes
“I saw them last month in April. Those guys were working really hard. I am happy for them. It is a motivation for us, going into the next tournament that USA have down, so can we. In that way, we can look at it.” Canada wicketkeeper-batter Shreyas Movva is happy with USA making it to the next round
“Regarding this stadium, we played earlier so we are slightly aware of the conditions, what we get. Yes, the weather is challenging here, you don’t know about when the rain comes and all, but we have been prepared for all these things. So, we are focusing on what we can control and at this point of the time, we can’t control the weather conditions. So, we are trying to prepare ourselves in the best possible way but we want a game to happen.” India fielding coach T Dilip isn’t bothered about the conditions
