If things had turned out differently, Jasprit Bumrah, the current top bowling option for both the Indian cricket team and his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, the Mumbai Indians (MI), would have been playing for a different country on a different continent altogether: Canada. Yes, you read that right! Bumrah had a backup plan to settle in Canada.
This was brought to light by his wife, Sanjana Ganesh, during an interview recently. “You wanted to go to Canada and set up a new life there?” Sanjana prompted the fast bowler. “Well, every boy wants to make it big and play cricket. Every street has 25 players who want to play for India,” responded Bumrah. “You have to have a backup plan. Our relative lives there. I thought I would finish my education and settle there.” Bumrah continued, “We thought we would go as a family, but then my mom did not want to go as it’s a different culture there.”
Bumrah became the Player of the Match on Tuesday after grabbing five wickets for 21 runs in MI’s match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Reacting to the revelation that Bumrah might have ended up living in Canada, Rashpal Bajwa, the president of Cricket Canada, speaking exclusively to DC, said, “Having Jasprit Bumrah play for Canadian cricket would undoubtedly have been a game-changer. His exceptional talent and skill could have provided the catalyst needed to elevate cricket’s status in Canada and compete with other mainstream sports. It’s fascinating to imagine the impact such a player could have had on the sport’s growth and popularity in the country. It could have accelerated the development of infrastructure, coaching programmes, and overall professionalism within Canadian cricket.”
Well, Canada’s loss is India’s gain!
“I am very happy and very lucky that things worked out this way. I don’t know if I would have tried to play for the Canadian team if it had been different.” — Bumrah
