Former Canada captain Navneet Dhaliwal will bring the curtain down on his international career after Thursday’s T20 World Cup clash against Afghanistan in Chennai, confirming his retirement following the defeat to New Zealand that knocked his side out of Super Eight contention. The 37-year-old batter, who led his country in 29 T20Is and four ODIs since his debut in 2015, revealed he planned the decision before arriving at the tournament. “I took the decision before I came here [for the World Cup]. I’ve been playing for more than 11 years now,” Dhaliwal said. “So it was planned and this is going to be my last match.”
Dhaliwal departs as Canada’s highest run-getter in T20I cricket, having skippered the side to 21 victories in the shortest format. That win tally tells its own story – this is a man who dragged Associate cricket into the spotlight through sheer bloody-mindedness and a bucketload of runs. He ranks the captaincy itself, along with his 61 off 44 balls in Canada’s first-ever T20 World Cup game, right at the top of his career highlights. “Yeah, the best memory was when we first qualified for the 2024 T20 World Cup,” he reflected. “After that, I scored in the opening game of the World Cup last time. Also when I became a captain, that was a proud moment for me. So yeah, those few memorable moments.”
But don’t expect Dhaliwal to vanish from the cricket landscape entirely. The former skipper plans to swap the captain’s armband for a coaching manual, though he’s ruling out the national set-up for now. “I’m thinking of coaching but not on a national level,” he explained. “My priority would be the youngsters. That’s something that would give me happiness. It’s hard to leave cricket right away and once cricket is in your blood, it’s very hard to stop playing. So, my next goal is to help the youngsters to take the next step.”
And what a time to be talking about Canadian youngsters. Nineteen-year-old Yuvraj Samra lit up Chennai with a quite mesmerising 58-ball century against New Zealand – the youngest player ever to smash a hundred in any men’s World Cup match, T20 or ODI. The kid also became the first Associate player to reach three figures at a men’s T20 World Cup. Dhaliwal watched on with the pride of a man seeing his legacy unfold before his eyes.
“You see what Yuvraj Samra did,” Dhaliwal beamed. “Scoring a hundred against New Zealand, which is one of the best sides in the world. And he is someone who was born in Canada, where it’s not easy to learn cricket. I think we still have a background of India. We played cricket here. We have that basic foundation of cricket and skills. But he lacked that. But the way he played, you can see how cricket is growing now. So, [I’m] very happy.”
Samra’s fairytale knock, 110 from 65 balls with six maximums – proved the lone bright spot in a defeat that sent New Zealand through. But Dhaliwal sees it as proof that Canadian cricket finally has a production line worth shouting about. He credits the Global T20 Canada and the Canada 60 leagues for giving local lads the chance to rub shoulders with the big boys. Samra, before his World Cup bow, had already shared dressing rooms with the likes of Usman Khawaja, Martin Guptill and James Vince. That sort of exposure, Dhaliwal insists, is priceless.
“Playing with stars in GT20 Canada and Super 60 helps big time,” he added. “So, all the players, especially youngsters, learn the game better. If you come straight to this big podium, and you haven’t met any of these big stars, you get lost. So in that scenario, it helps a lot.”
Dhaliwal’s own journey began in Chandigarh before he moved to Canada at 22 when his family bought a petrol station. From pumping gas to captaining his adopted nation, it’s the sort of backstory that deserves a decent send-off. Thursday in Chennai offers exactly that. Afghanistan await, but for Dhaliwal, the result almost feels secondary. This one’s about handing over the keys.
