Desi Talk

www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 22 SPORTS April 10, 2026 Cricket-Jaskaran’s Journey Comes Full Circle In ‘Ironic’ World Cup Debut In India A s a child growing up in Punjab’s Mohali, Jaskaran Singh would often go up to the rooftop alone, hold his cricket bat and imagine play- ing in theWorld Cup for India. In 2026, after 17 years in profes- sional cricket, his dream came true, but with a strange twist of fate. He appeared in the Twenty20 World Cup in the country of his birth, but wearing a Canadian jersey. “How ironic is that?” Jaskaran, a medium pacer who represented India A and played for Punjab and Chandigarh in Indian domestic cricket, told Reuters. Canada ended their campaign without a win, despite Jaskaran’s three-wicket haul against Afghani- stan in their last group game. But for Jaskaran, the experience was surreal on a personal level. “At some point… there was a thought that okay, you worked hard, but your dream of playing and winning theWorld Cup for India is shattered,” he said. “I went to Canada, not knowing what would happen. And then I’m given an opportunity of playing in aWorld Cup, and thatWorld Cup happens to be in India, my home country… I could not ever imagine this in my wild- est dreams.” Moving to Canada was a “compromise with destiny”, said the 36-year-old, who had initially remained in India to continue his cricketing career despite his family being Canadian permanent residents. He took six wickets for Deccan Chargers in the 2010 edition of the Indian Premier League, but dealt with a number of injuries through the next few years, mak- ing intermittent appearances in domestic tournaments before his eventual move to Canada. “I went there for my child’s citizenship, to be honest,” he said. CRICKET IN CANADA To Jaskaran, who was used to going out in shorts even in the coldest months, Canadian winters came as a shock. “Here, after October and November, if you have to step out of the house, you must have warm clothes, snow shoes. It was so difficult to adjust at first,” he said. He took up a coaching role at an academy in Toronto and regularly played club cricket, in a sporting environ- ment that was very different from what he grew up with. “Because the summer is so short, they have to pack a lot of cricket in the weekends. They start from seven in the morning and finish at nine in the evening,” he said. “Wet ground, wet shoes, you slip a lot. The sight screens aren’t good, the qual- ity of the ball varies from match to match, between tournaments.” But one thing Canadian cricket did not lack was com- petitiveness, with hundreds of immigrants like Jaskaran try- ing to make it in a sport that, to them, represented a con- nection with their homelands. “If you work hard, you can make your way to the top,” Jaskaran said. The country’s national cricket body, Cricket Canada, started monitoring him as a potential national team player early on, with Pubudu Dassanayake, Canada’s coach at the time who later became the U.S. head coach, working closely with him. “He’d ask, how long I had left to fulfil my residency obligations before I would be eligible to play for Canada,” Jaskaran recalled. On his Canada debut against Bermuda in April 2025, he took three wickets in a comfortable victory. Jaskaran credited his IPL experience for how easily he fit into his new national side. “You mentally become confident that it’s nothing new,” he said. Despite the disappointing campaign at the T20World Cup, Jaskaran said Canada are on track to become regu- lars at both 20-over and 50-overWorld Cups. But one thing he can no longer predict is where his own journey in the sport will take him next. “I used to make a lot of plans… but destiny teaches you, it’s not in your control. Wherever life takes me, I’m on a boat without a radar. I’m just going to enjoy the ride, whatever destiny throws at me,” he said. -Reuters Cricket-Bengaluru’s Six-Hitting Machine David Hits The Roof T im David showed exactly why Royal Challengers Bengaluru retained his services for the 2026 season with a scintillating power-hitting display for the defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions on Sunday. The 30-year-old Australian clobbered eight sixes in his unbeaten 70 off 25 balls as Bengaluru scored a 43-run win over Chennai Super Kings to make it two wins from two. In an innings of huge hits, David drew gasps with a monstrous 106m strike that landed on the roof of the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. “I’ve been getting in trouble during training with the boys,” Player of the Match David said of the six. “We have competitions to try and hit them on the roof and we’re obviously on the side pitches. So, to get one during a match out of the middle, help it up on the roof, it was good fun.” Bengaluru top the early-season standings with a net run rate superior to that of Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capi- tals and Punjab Kings, who also began with back-to-back wins. Bengaluru’s Rajat Patidar thumped 48 not out off 19 balls and David, who plundered 30 runs from a Jamie Overton over that included four sixes, said the captain’s approach helped set the platform for his late burst. “Rajat was absolutely smoking it and I was taking balls off him so to be able to get us to a score and obviously put a lot of pressure on the opposition,” he added. Chasing 251 for victory, five-time champions Chennai managed 207 before being bowled out with two balls left in their innings. “If you look at the score, we were ahead of them up to about five overs to go,” Chennai head coach Stephen Fleming said. “And then they just went like a rocket. So that’s really where the game was lost for us.” It was a third straight defeat for Chennai, who slipped to the bottom of the table. -Reuters PHOTO:REUTERS/PRIYANSHU SINGH PHOTO:CRICKETCANADA.ORG Cricket – Indian Premier League – IPL – Royal Challengers Bengaluru v Chennai Super Kings – M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India – April 5, 2026 Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Tim David in action. By Amlan Chakraborty By Chiranjit Ojha