Gurdaspur cricketer set to don national colours of Canada

For middle-order batsman Dilpreet Singh Ponty Bajwa (23), rejection was a one- word pain. However, he found a two-word solution for it—-keep trying. Even after being shown the door by the Punjab selectors time and again, he did not stop trying.

Excluded by Punjab, Cricket Canada, the governing body of the sport in that country, has cleared the decks for him to become Canada’s national team vice-captain. An official announcement is likely to be made soon.

He could accept failure; everyone fails at one time or the other. But he could not accept not trying.

Born and brought up in the narrow alleys of Gurdaspur, Ponty Bajwa started playing cricket under the watchful eyes of coach Rakesh Marshal at the Government College ground. Slowly, he graduated to playing senior level cricket. A few years ago, he scored 138 against cricket powerhouse Patiala in a Katoch Shield match while playing for minnows Gurdaspur. This tournament forms the basis of selection in the Ranji Trophy squad.

The selectors did not select him based on the flawed logic that “he was too young to be selected”. They conveniently forgot that Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was just 21 years old when he was appointed the Indian captain. They also forgot that Sachin Tendulkar was barely 16 when he made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1989. Such examples are galore, and in fact, have become a part of cricketing folklore.

Dejected, Bajwa and his family emigrated to Canada where he started playing league cricket for Caribbean Tigers, Montreal Tigers and Surrey Shines. He scored tons of runs and finally earned his stripes in the Canada national team for the 2024 T20 World Cup held jointly in the West Indies and USA.

This revelation took the cricket community in Punjab by surprise. They struggled to fathom how Bajwa managed to earn a spot on another country’s team, especially after his aspirations were unjustly disregarded by his own state and nation.

“Rejection does not always mean that I am not good enough. It is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success. Rejections are the bane of our existence; and will be a part of our life, come what may,” says Bajwa.