Except the 15 players who are representing India at the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, there are 40 cricketers — dispersed across multiple teams — who share some form of connection with India.
The recurring theme, on most cases, is that of how lack of opportunities and an insane level of competition drove a player out of India, to a nation where chances of selection are significantly higher, and how, in hindsight, the decision proved vindicated.
Bajwa had even been assured that his maiden Ranji Trophy cap was imminent, having impressed selectors through a string of consistent performances in inter-district tournaments and Punjab Cricket Association camps.
Though, destiny had other plans. Bajwa had to leave for Canada — where his father runs a trucking business — for urgent paperwork. He assumed that he will return in a few weeks, but was stuck during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Having continued his cricketing journey in Canada, he is now the nation’s captain at the global stage, at just 23 years of age. The Quint engaged in a candid and exclusive conversation with Dilpreet Bajwa. What follows are excerpts from that interaction:
