Despite numerous setbacks, including a freak leg injury that derailed Australia pacer Jason Behrendorff’s IPL 2024 campaign and World Cup hopes, the 34-year-old remains optimistic and determined for a comeback. The left-arm pacer’s recent journey in 2024 has been nothing short of eventful. In March, just days before he was to board a flight to India for the IPL, a freak injury at the WACA nets shattered his fibula. The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time, especially as Behrendorff was in prime form and being touted as a contender for Australia’s T20 World Cup squad.

But for Behrendorff, success isn’t measured by the Baggy Green, but by the impact he’s made in the game. “I’ve played two formats for Australia, I’ve played professionally for the best part of 15 years. Everyone’s view of success is different,” he told cricket.com.au.

The injury not only sidelined him from the IPL, where he had signed a lucrative Rs 75 lakh contract with the Mumbai Indians, but also dashed his hopes of representing Australia in the World Cup.

“It was probably the most angry and the most frustrated I’ve been after an injury, because it was so freakish. “It literally hit me flush and snapped my fibula,” Behrendorff said, reflecting on the incident.

It was a crushing blow for the reigning Australian T20I cricketer of the year, who had hoped to use the IPL as a platform to prove his worth for the national squad.

“The feedback leading into the IPL was basically all the main bowlers in contention for that World Cup squad were playing in the IPL,” he said.

But in true Behrendorff fashion, the pacer decided to take control of his future. He opted out of the final year of his state contract with Western Australia, informing high-performance boss Kade Harvey and coach Adam Voges of his decision to pursue freelance opportunities in global T20 leagues. Overnight, he went from representing Australia, WA, and Mumbai Indians to being an uncontracted freelancer.

“So that was a great chance to play well, put yourself in with a chance, and for me it was a case of, ‘Well, I’ve got nothing to lose. I know I’m not one of the top three to be included in the squad. There was myself and realistically you’re looking at Nathan Ellis, Sean Abbott, Spencer Johnson – it was probably the four of us competing for the one or potentially two spots left.

“I was hopeful that I was going to get a chance and playing well in the IPL was a definitely a ticket to do that.”

Despite the uncertainty, Behrendorff’s return to cricket has been nothing short of spectacular. His first assignment, in Sri Lanka’s Lanka Premier League, saw him lift the trophy with Jaffna Kings. Just days later, he was helping the Toronto Nationals win the Global T20 Canada title, earning player-of-the-match honours with a remarkable 3-8 figures in the final.

“I’ve started my freelance campaign two wins from two tournaments,” Behrendorff quipped. “If you want to win, pick me up!”

“The pinnacle of what young kids dream about is wanting to wear the Baggy Green,” Behrendorff acknowledged. “But just because I haven’t played Test cricket, does that mean I haven’t had a successful career? I certainly don’t think so.”

Behrendorff’s red-ball career, which saw him take 126 first-class wickets at an impressive average of 23.85 but his T20 journey is far from over. As T20 leagues continue to offer lucrative opportunities, Behrendorff believes more players will follow in his footsteps, choosing to forgo state contracts in favour of the global T20 circuit.

“I think there will be cases of players giving up state deals going forward, especially with the way T20 cricket is shaping the game,” he said.

Toronto Nationals dominated with both bat and ball to dethrone defending champions Montreal Tigers by 8 wickets in an engrossing final to be crowned the winners of the fourth season of the Global T20 Canada on Sunday. Toronto Nationals thus clinched their maiden title in North America’s premier T20 competition. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also visited the Global T20 Canada venue during the league and met the management of Montreal Tigers, and then he was presented with a jersey.

Toronto skipper Colin Munro won the toss and saw his decision to field first vindicated in spectacular fashion as Montreal suffered a batting collapse to only manage a paltry total of 96/9 in their 20 overs.

Andries Gous then came up with a match-winning half-century to ensure a rather one-sided victory for Toronto Nationals. The innings was even more remarkable due to the fact that he had suffered a broken finger, a short while after arriving at the crease. But the USA international fought through the pain to remain unbeaten on 58 runs off 49 balls and ensure that Toronto Nationals secured victory in spectacular fashion.

The challenging batting conditions at the TD Stadium in Brampton were rendered even more difficult by a spell of heavy rain that delayed the toss by a couple of hours.

Australian pacer Jason Behrendorff made good use of the conditions to produce a superb display of swing bowling for remarkable figures of 3/8 in his four overs. That triggered a batting collapse in the Montreal top order and put Toronto firmly in the driver’s seat.

The Tigers suffered their first blow quite early with Toronto pacer Romario Shepherd sending opener Praveen Kumar back to the pavilion in the second over.

Montreal suffered a double blow in the very next over as Jason Behrendorff dismissed Gerhard Erasmus (2) and Tim Seifert (0) off consecutive deliveries.

Chris Lynn (3) did not stick around too long either as the Montreal skipper tried a wild slog off Behrendorff only to offer an easy top edge to Toronto wicketkeeper Unmukt Chand.

Sherfane Rutherford (1) went back almost as soon as he arrived, offering an easy catch off Junaid Siddiqui‘s bowling to leave the Tigers in deep trouble with half their batting line-up back in the dugout before the end of the power play.

However, Corbin Bosch (35) and Jaskaran Singh (16) got together to add 46 runs between them and ensure that the Tigers’ innings lasted the full 20 overs.

The Toronto chase was off to a poor start as skipper Colin Munro was trapped leg before for nought by Azmatullah Omarzai off the second ball of the opening over. Bosch bowled fellow opener Unmukt Chand (4) in the next over to raise hopes of a strong fightback by the Tigers.

However, if the Montreal fans were hoping for a turnaround by their team, Andries Gous and Rassie van der Dussen (30 not out) ensured that they would be severely disappointed with an unbeaten partnership of 85 runs that powered the Nationals over the line without any further hiccups.

Toronto Nationals’ Romario Shepherd was adjudged the bowler of the tournament for his 14 wickets while Brampton Wolves’ wicketkeeper-batter George Munsey was named the batter of the tournament for topping the charts with 218 runs.

Canadian youngster Dilpreet Bajwa, who represented the runners-up Montreal Tigers, was named the Emerging Player of the tournament, while Toronto Nationals’ UAE import Junaid Siddique was awarded the Player of the tournament.