T20 World Cup: Veteran Canada batter Navneet Dhaliwal said hitting a fifty in the group-stage clash against South Africa in the Men’s T20 World Cup carried added significance as it came in a country where cricket is adored a lot. Dhaliwal’s fighting fifty went in vain as South Africa beat Canada by 57 runs in Ahmedabad.
Canada are now looking to get their first win over UAE at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday afternoon. “Scoring fifty in World Cup cricket while playing in a nation with such a massive population where cricket is like a religion is special. Every second person plays here. The grinding is what I learned from Punjab and playing in India. The passion people have for the game helped me survive those tough periods in Canada, both in cricket and in my professional life.”
"A bit of a discipline problem we have a little bit for sure, but when you need someone to stand in the middle and fight for their country, you see the true spirit of a Punjabi. They might be hard to control sometimes, but they'll fight until the end,” Dhaliwal told broadcasters ahead of the clash.