The inaugural season of the Major League Cricket (MLC T20) will kick-start on July 13, with the players draft concluding in the United States of America (USA) on Sunday, March 19.
The competition will consist of six teams, four of which are partly or wholly owned by existing Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have invested in the Los Angeles-based team, while the Mumbai Indians (MI) solely own the New York franchise. Meanwhile, the Delhi Capitals (DC) have partnered with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and co-own the Seattle-based franchise, which is known as Seattle Orcas.
The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) co-own the Texas-based franchise, making them the fourth IPL team to have a stake in the MLC. The remaining two teams are owned by local American investors in collaboration with New South Wales Cricket and Victoria Cricket, with one based in Washington DC and the other in San Francisco.
During the players’ draft, each team selected the core of their domestic squads. The marquee event took place at the Space Center Houston, which is the official visitor center of NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Let’s have a look at the squads of all six MLC T20 teams after the players draft:
Los Angeles Knight Riders: Ali Khan, Unmukt Chand, Jaskaran Malhotra, Nitish Kumar, Corne Dry, Ali Sheikh, Saif Badar, Shadley Van Schalhywh, Bhaskar Yadram
MI New York:
Steven Taylor, Hammad Azam, Ehsan Adil, Nosthush Henjige, Monank Patel, Sarbjeet Ladda, Shayan Jahangir, Usman Rafiq, Saideep Ganesh
San Francisco Unicorns:
Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Tajinder Singh, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Carmi Le Roux, Brody Couch, David White, Smit Patel, Sanjay Krishnamurthi
Seattle Orcas:
Quinton de Kock, Mitchell Marsh, Harmeet Singh, Shehan Jayasuriya, Shubham Ranjani, Cameron Gannon, Aaron Jones, Nauman Anwar, Phani Simhadri, Angelo Perera, Matthew Tromp
Team Texas:
Rusty Theron, Calvin Savage, Lahiru Milantaha, Milind Kumar, Sami Aslam, Cameron Stevenson, Cody Chetty, Zia Shahzad, Saiteja Mukamalla
Washington Freedom:
Anrich Nortje, Wanindu Hasaranga, Andries Gous, Mukhtar Ahmed, Obus Pienaar, Saurabh Netravalhar, Saad Ali, Dane Piedt, Sujith Gowda, Justin Dill, Akhilesh Bodugum.
