Canada and the U.S. will meet June 1 at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas to kick off the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Canada cricket captain Saad Bin Zafar is shown in this handout image provided by Cricket Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Cricket Canada **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar is looking forward to the eyes of the cricket world watching his team this summer.

The Canadian men will be centre stage June 1 when they take on the U.S. at the Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium in Dallas in the opening match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. And millions will be watching when Canada takes on India and Pakistan in subsequent Group A matches.

"That group pretty much has the most eyeballs," Zafar said. "We couldn't have asked for a better group … That's huge for us."

Also extremely challenging. India is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in the 20-over game while Pakistan is No. 4, Ireland No. 12 and Canada No. 20.

Canada will meet Ireland on June 7 and Pakistan on June 11, with both games in suburban New York, before wrapping up Group A play against India on June 15 in Lauderhill, Fla.

Playing the tournament opener is the icing on the cake for Zafar.

The Canada-U. S. rivalry is considered the oldest in international cricket, given the two met in what is thought to be the first international cricket match in 1844, 33 years prior to England’s meeting against Australia. Canada won the two-innings match by 23 runs that day at the St. George’s Cricket Club in Manhattan.

The West Indies, which is co-hosting the 55-game tournament with the U.S., opens June 2 against Papua New Guinea at the Guyana National Stadium.

Led by Zafar, the Canadian men qualified for their first T20 World Cup in October, defeating Bermuda by 39 runs to win the four-team ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Region Final. Canada and Bermuda both finished with 4-1-0 records with one no-result. But Canada, which lost to Bermuda by 86 runs in its opening match, won the tournament by a superior net run rate (3.98 to 2.41).

The Canadians failed to qualify for the eight previous editions of the T20 World Cup, which has expanded to 20 teams in 2024.

Zafar, an all-rounder whose forte is as a left-arm orthodox spin bowler, hopes the tournament will shine a spotlight on the Canadian team and inspire a new generation of cricketers back home.

"You couldn't ask for a better platform than the T20 World Cup," he said.

Group B is made up of defending champion England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland and Oman. Group C consists of New Zealand, the West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda and Papua New Guinea while Group D is South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Netherlands and Nepal.

The top two teams in each group move on to the Super Eights, to be played in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

The two top teams from each pool in the Super Eight then move on to the semifinals in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago on June 26 and 27, respectively. The final will be held June 29 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Rivals India and Pakistan will face off June 9 in a 34,000-seat modular stadium some 50 kilometres east of downtown Manhattan in Nassau County. Eight matches will be played at the venue.

First-round matches in the U.S. will be split between Nassau County International Cricket Stadium (New York), Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium (Dallas) and Broward County Stadium (Lauderhill).

West Indies, which hosted the event in 2010, will hold matches at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium (Antigua and Barbuda), Kensington Oval (Barbados), Guyana National Stadium (Guyana), Daren Sammy Cricket Ground (Saint Lucia), Arnos Vale (Saint Vincent and The Grenadines) and Brian Lara Cricket Academy (Trinidad and Tobago).

The Canadians leave at the end of the month for Hong Kong and then Nepal for pre-tournament camps ahead of a 50-over tournament in Dubai. They are scheduled to return in early March when they will turn their focus to the 20-over game.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2024.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024