Dilpreet Bajwa’s story-from Punjab snub to Canada’s T20 WC captaincy:Gurdaspur-born all-rounder returns to India; Canada start campaign on 9 February

In an interesting turn of fate, Dilpreet Bajwa, who was once rejected at the U-19 level in Punjab, will be returning to India as Canada’s captain for the T20 World Cup 2026. The Gurdaspur-born all-rounder was announced as Canada’s captain for the showpiece event. Canada will start their T20 World Cup journey against South Africa on 9 February. Earlier in his career, the all-rounder had played a brilliant 130-run knock in Patiala. This knock could have earned him a place in the Punjab U-19 team. But he was not selected. After this rejection he moved to Canada with his parents. Dilpreet’s passion for cricket continued there as well. First, he played club cricket. After that, when he showcased his cricketing talent, he was selected for Canada’s international cricket team. Who is Dilpreet Bajwa? From being rejected by Punjab to becoming Canada’s T20 World Cup captain, here’s his story? Also read: ‘Won’t move’ Ireland’s response to Bangladesh’s T20 WC group-change request: BCB wanted shift to Group B for playing all matches in Sri Lanka Dilpreet Bajwa’s rise to Canada captaincy after Punjab snub Also read: South-African cricketer to play for Italy in T20 World Cup: JJ Smuts makes it to squad; qualifying captain Joe Burns gets ruled out Six players from Punjab in Canada’s T20 World Cup squad
Besides captain Dilpreet Singh Bajwa, Pargat Singh from Ropar and Navneet Dhaliwal from Chandigarh have also played domestic cricket in Punjab. Pargat Singh has also been a part of the Punjab Ranji team. Additionally, Navneet Dhaliwal has played cricket at the inter-district level in Punjab. Besides Dilpreet, Jaskaran Deep Buttar, Navneet Dhaliwal, Kanwarpal, Ravinderpal Singh, Ajayveer Hundal, a total of six players are in Canada’s T20 World Cup team.