The International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption Unit has an active, formal investigation open into Canada’s group-stage T20 World Cup match against New Zealand earlier this year, with specific attention on a single over bowled by Canada captain Dilpreet Bajwa. No charges have been filed and Bajwa has not been found to have done anything wrong, but the case has become one of the more closely watched integrity investigations on the ICC’s books.
The over under the microscope
New Zealand were 35 for 2 when Bajwa, primarily a batting allrounder who bowls offspin, was handed the ball for the fifth over of the chase. He opened with a no-ball, followed it with a leg-side wide, and ultimately conceded 15 runs in the over. On its own, an expensive over from a part-time bowler is unremarkable in T20 cricket. What elevated it to formal scrutiny is the surrounding context: Bajwa had been named Canada’s captain only three weeks before the tournament began, an unusually late appointment that investigators are examining alongside allegations aired in a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary.
How the CBC documentary triggered this
The investigation traces back to "Corruption, Crime and Cricket," a CBC documentary broadcast in April that alleged deeper governance failures inside Cricket Canada, including claims of match manipulation and, separately, threats of violence connected to the sport’s administration in the country. The documentary’s allegations were serious enough that the ICC Board, meeting in Ahmedabad, subsequently voted to suspend Cricket Canada’s membership in June for "serious breaches of its membership obligations" — a decision distinct from, but clearly linked to, the ongoing ACU probe.
Two active investigations, one governance crisis
According to ICC officials, the Anti-Corruption Unit is running two separate but related investigations spanning both the international and domestic levels of Canadian cricket, including scrutiny of a recorded telephone conversation involving former national coach Khurram Chohan, whose remarks the CBC documentary presented as evidence of broader awareness inside the team’s coaching staff rather than an isolated player-level lapse. Cricket Canada has said it was "surprised" and considered the suspension "unexpected," even as it acknowledged cooperating with the ICC’s review process.
Diverging reactions inside the game
Some integrity specialists argue the ICC’s response — opening a formal probe and, in parallel, suspending the federation — shows the governing body finally treating associate-nation corruption risk with the same seriousness it applies to full members, rather than quietly managing it. Under this reading, Canada’s case functions as a test of whether the ICC’s newer governance framework, which allows conditional funding and reinstatement pathways rather than blanket exclusion, can rehabilitate a troubled board without punishing the players caught in the middle.
Others inside Canadian cricket circles counter that a documentary-driven investigation risks convicting a 22-year-old captain in the court of public opinion before any tribunal has examined the evidence. Bajwa’s defenders note that expensive overs happen constantly in T20 cricket bowled by part-timers under pressure, and that correlation between a rushed leadership appointment and a bad over is not proof of anything beyond poor team management.
The precedent question
Cricket administrators watching from other associate nations are paying close attention to how this case resolves, because it will effectively set a template for how the ICC handles the intersection of documentary-driven public allegations and formal anti-corruption process going forward. If the ACU clears Bajwa without charge, the episode becomes a cautionary tale about the danger of media-driven suspicion outpacing evidence. If it results in charges, it becomes a template for how quickly a broadcast investigation can trigger both a federation-level suspension and an individual player tribunal within the same calendar year — a much faster and more public pipeline than the ICC’s integrity process has historically moved.
What’s next
Canada’s national teams remain eligible to compete in ICC events during the suspension, and the federation can still draw on ICC funding through a controlled mechanism earmarked strictly for team programs. The ACU has given no public timeline for concluding its investigations, but the outcome will shape not just Bajwa’s future but the conditions the ICC ultimately sets for Cricket Canada’s reinstatement — a case other associate boards under governance pressure will be watching closely as they weigh how transparent to be about their own internal problems before a documentary crew gets there first.