T20 WC: India To Take On Canada In Last Group Stage Match In Florida Today
In ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Cricket, USA advanced to the Super Eights stage after their crucial Group A match against Ireland was abandoned due to persistent rain at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill yesterday.
This is the first time that USA has reached this stage in their cricket history. USA have become the second team after India to reach next stage from Group A.
Former champions Pakistan and Ireland were eliminated from Super Eight contention.
Today, India will take on Canada in their last group stage match at Central Broward Park Stadium in Florida at 8 PM IST.
The rains and flash floods in Florida have been so intense over the last couple of days that the Florida Panthers had to postpone their departure for Edmonton, Alberta, for the third and fourth games of the Stanley Cup final. They eventually landed in the West Canadian city and won Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers, but they could not avoid the effects of the deluge back home in Florida. The Indian team was luckier; their charter flight from New York to Miami did not get cancelled on Wednesday, and they are ready for the final league game against Canada in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday.
The forecast for the match day is not promising; scattered thunderstorms are predicted, which means the match might be either totally disrupted or partially cut short. Having already secured their place in the Super 8 stage, the Indian team remains unperturbed by the floods that have swamped parts of the city. They have cancelled their scheduled net session for Friday.
Should the match take place against the Saad Bin Zafar side, it will be an opportunity for the team to reinforce their strategies, choices, and beliefs demonstrated so far in the championship. The XI selected for the three games in the competition has been chosen with the goal of taking on spin through the middle phases of the game better than any other side. If they get match time on Saturday, it will be an ideal moment to press on with the approach, especially since there will be an assortment of spinners bowling during the middle phase in the Super 8 matches.
With four left-handed batters in the middle – Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, followed by Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel – interspersing with right-handed batters Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya across the batting order, it will be crucial to maintain the left-right combination to effectively fight spin. They should continue this strategy consistently to prepare for tougher matches ahead, particularly against Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
And as for Kohli, there may not be much he has to do that he has not done in his career or the recent IPL. His scores of 1 (vs Ireland), 4 (vs Pakistan) and 0 (vs the USA) have certainly not lived up to his reputation and expectations but big scores from his bat are around the corner.
From the Canadian perspective, they are out of the Super 8 race. A victory against India might seem a bit far-fetched but Canada will be hoping that they can emulate their neighbours USA in running India close. A victory against Ireland earlier in the competition and the fight shown against Pakistan will serve as inspiration for them.
Squads:
Canada Squad: Aaron Johnson, Navneet Dhaliwal, Pargat Singh, Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva(w), Ravinderpal Singh, Saad Bin Zafar(c), Kaleem Sana, Dillon Heyliger, Junaid Siddiqui, Jeremy Gordon, Rayyan Pathan, Nikhil Dutta, Rishiv Ragav Joshi, Dilpreet Bajwa
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal
