How new Cricket Canada group is set to succeed despite pitfalls

At the special general meeting called by B.C. Supreme Court judge David Crerar in April, Arvinder Khosa was ushered in as president.

Published May 12, 2026  •  4 minute read

Canada's Saad Bin Zafar, right, celebrates the wicket of New Zealand's Tim Seifert during a T20 World Cup cricket match against New Zealand earlier this year. AP Photo

As jets flew over the hotel located within a stone’s throw from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, the most consequential election in the history of Cricket Canada took place under that roar on the weekend.

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After three years of total mayhem that threatened and almost destroyed the solid reputation built through diligence and hard work by players and some assiduous committees, the game stared at a deep hole looking to be gobbled up for good.

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But all thanks goes to B.C. Supreme Court judge David Crerar, who stripped Cricket Canada’s leadership of its powers following allegations of mismanagement, corruption and internal dysfunction it survived. Crerar called for a special general meeting and the old group led by Amjad Bajwa and a committee the judge said was “ruled by egos” was no more.

At the special general meeting called by Crerar in April, Arvinder Khosa was ushered in as president. And this past weekend at Cricket Canada’s AGM, Khosa was endorsed by an overwhelming majority as he snared 18 of the 25 votes. His entire committee was returned on a big vote count as well, but he has two major hurdles to clear.

He was informed by the International Cricket Council, the governing body of the sport, that Cricket Canada has been placed on a “restricted funding program.” It won’t be long before we are informed what that means. Why penalize a new committee while it went into a deep slumber when so many irregularities conducted by the former committee were ignored?

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Khosa and his new group have hit the road running by inking the well-regarded Monty Desai from India as coach on a temporary basis. Of course, Desai has a monumental task on his hands as he prepares a national squad that has been put through a wringer in the past couple of years.

Undue interference from board members on team selection sapped the squad of confidence and team spirit. But Khosa has a solid committee with members drawn from the 10 provinces who have showed an interest in the game’s progression instead of wanting to benefit from it like the previous group.

Those voted in are Ranjit Chaudhri (vice-president), secretary Paramjit Shahi, directors at large Amit Joshi, Hassan Mirza, Subrata Mandal and Riaz Dawood.

For the first time, the players will be represented by a women’s member, Sonali Vig, with Manzoor Chaudhary representing the men. The board also picked the knowledgeable Bhavjit Jauhar as interim chief operational officer for three months while the national body seeks a permanent representative.

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The other headache Khosa faces is the huge lawyer fees in the region of $500,000 incurred by the old committee.

What matches does Canada have coming up?

Meanwhile, it will be an uphill climb for Desai and his squad as they take on two of the associate nations’ big guns — the U.S. and Netherlands — in the crucial ICC World Cricket League qualification matches in June.

Canada is locked in a fight for a spot in the World Cup (50 overs) in 2027 and an even and more important battle to survive as an ODI member.

Canada must finish in the top four to qualify for the World Cup, but it won’t be easy as it currently lies in sixth place behind the U.S., Scotland, Oman, Netherlands and Namibia.

Its matches will be played at King City but in keeping with its run of uncertainty in recent months the soggy weather has prevented the squad practising on the wet Ontario fields. In fact, Desai — who takes charge of the squad led by all-rounder Saad Bin Zafar — later this week may find themselves flying across the country to British Columbia, where the new cricket season has already opened.

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Canada has 12 fixtures remaining in this WCL season and it must win at least six of them to retain its ODI status and that is a must if it wants to progress internationally. Dropping down the pool would mean ending up as a bottom-feeder, where it would be starved of international competition on a regular basis and it would end up playing in the dreaded pre-tournament qualification groups.

Khosa intimated to me that his first objective is the national squad and he will make sure he will bend over backwards to make sure it is well looked after as far as compensation is concerned. The previous committee treated the squad as rag dolls and paid it a measly $3,000 a month to represent the Maple Leaf.

Khosa has intimated he is looking to sweeten that pot by $2,000 and even more. That, of course, depends on tying his bandwagon to the lucrative GT20 League that was cancelled last year.

This league will be played this year, depending on a court case decision who will run it. But the U.S.-based National Cricket League has announced it will hold a presser along with Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown at the CAA Centre to announce its involvement in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Bombay Sports — which ran the league successfully for several years — has sued Cricket Canada and is awaiting a court decision.

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