Canada's T20 World Cup match against New Zealand is reportedly under ICC investigation after allegations of corruption were made in a documentary that aired on Thursday (April 16).
CBC documentary alleges corruption within Cricket Canada
On April 16, a documentary was aired on the fifth estate, a YouTube channel affiliated with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Canada's public broadcaster, titled Corruption inside Cricket Canada: Allegations of organized crime infiltration.
The investigative documentary dug into the possibility of corruption in Canadian cricket, including allegations involving Cricket Canada president Amjad Bajwa, former CEO Salman Khan and board member Rana Imran.
The documentary featured audio footage of an alleged phone call involving ex-Canada head coach Khurram Chohan, who claimed he was given a specific team and batting order to follow before a game against Bermuda in 2025, but did not follow the instructions. He said that he later received a phone call from Salman angrily asking him, "What have you done?" Another former head coach, Pubudu Dassanayake, also claimed he had been asked to play certain players, or reveal lineup information in advance. "I didn't allow that to happen," he said. "But I was asked."
An unnamed source in the documentary, identified only as a source inside Cricket Canada said it was their "personal belief" that Dilpreet Bajwa had been made Canada captain just before the start of the 2026 men's T20 World Cup, in order to fix or spot-fix matches.
A second source in the documentary claimed that a Canadian national team player was threatened to not interfere in the selection of certain players, alegedely being told, "...we will tell you who Lawrence Bishnoi is." Bishnoi, currently in prison in India, is said to be the boss of the Bishnoi gang, which was declared a terrorist entity by the Canadian government in September 2025. Organised crime has long had close ties to illegal betting as a profit-making venture.
ICC ACU aware of fixing allegations
One event under the scanner in the documentary came in Canada's third match of the tournament, when captain Bajwa, a batter, brought himself on to bowl in the fifth over of New Zealand's run chase and started his over with a no-ball. Prior to the match, the makers of the CBC documentary allege that they received a tip-off from a source in the betting world that a "script" was available for the match.
Andrew Ephgrave, interim general manager of the ICC's Integrity Unit said in the documentary that the board's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) was aware of a recording in which Cricket Canada's president and CEO were accused of manipulating the team lineup, but could not comment specifically for reasons of confidentiality.
"The ACU is aware of the programme broadcast by CBC," Ephgrave said in a separate statement to media outlet ESPNCricinfo after the documentary aired. "Consistent with its established operating procedures, the ACU is not in a position to comment on the substance of any allegations contained within it."
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