Why Noor Ahmad is Not Playing Today in AFG vs CAN T20 World Cup Match?

Afghanistan and Canada are playing their last match of the ongoing T20 World Cup against each other in Chennai. As both teams are already out of the tournament, they will try to end their campaign on a high note.

Canada skipper Dilpreet Bajwa won the toss and elected to bowl first in this game. Meanwhile, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan announced an unexpected change in the playing XI as their star spinner Noor Ahmad has been dropped for the match.

Why Noor Ahmad is Not Playing Today Against Canada?

Noor Ahmad is one of the best T20 bowlers in the world and an important member of Afghanistan's spin attack. However, the left-arm wrist-spinner didn’t have a great outing in the tournament so far due to which he has been benched for the AFG vs CAN T20 World Cup match.

The Afghanistan team management has decided to try out a new combination in this dead rubber. As a result, pacer Abdollah Ahmadzai has been confirmed as Noor Ahmad replacement for their last group stage match of this year's ICC T20 World Cup.

Overall, it was quite surprising to see the Afghanistan team management benching Noor when the AFG vs CAN T20 World Cup 2026 match is at his IPL home ground, the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Noor Ahmad's Forgettable Tournament Ends

Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad played two matches in the T20 World Cup 2026 and bowled a total of six overs. He bowled three overs against South Africa and conceded 35 runs while remaining wicketless. Coming to the next match, which was against the UAE, he didn't have a great outing once again as he returned figures of 0-35 in three overs once again.

It is quite surprising to see Noor going wicketless in big tournaments, especially when he has a lot of experience of playing on the Indian pitches through the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the bowler has all the qualities to become one of the best spinners in the world in future and will be looking to make a comeback.