New Delhi, March 16: Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises have invested in the upcoming Major Cricket League (MCL) in the USA. The IPL teams have already invested in domestic T20 leagues in West Indies, South Africa and UAE.
Four IPL franchises Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals are going to own a team in the MLC T20 league in the USA.
The four franchises have bought stakes in the MLC T20. KKR were the earliest investor in the league and bought the Los Angeles franchise.
KKR were also the first franchise to own a team in an overseas league when they bought stakes in the Caribbean Premier League to co-own Trinbago Knight Riders in CPL.
Mumbai Indians, like KKR, will be running the New York franchise on their own. MI have team SA20 and ILT20 titled MI Cape Town and MI Emirates respectively.
The Chennai Super Kings have partnered with a local firm for the Dallas franchise in Texas. While Delhi Capitals will be in charge of the Seattle-based franchise in partnership with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and others.
The Seattle Orcas have entered into the debut season of the competition, in partnership with Delhi Capitals. The newly named team will represent the Greater Seattle area, and the Pacific Northwest in MLC.
Other than Nadella and GMR, the other investors in the Orcas franchise are Soma Somasegar (managing director of Madrona Ventures), Samir Bodas (co-founder and CEO, Icertis), Ashok Krishnamurthi (managing partner, GreatPoint Ventures) and Sanjay Parthasarathy (a former senior executive at Microsoft and Avalara).
Delhi Capitals are the owners of a franchise in SA20 - titled Pretoria Capitals.
The fifth team in the MLC T20 2023 is San Francisco Unicorns and Bay Area will be their home ground in the league. San Francisco-based franchise has partnered with Australia's Cricket Victoria.
1) Chennai Super Kings - Texas
2) Mumbai Indians - New York
3) Delhi Capitals - Seattle
4) Kolkata Knight Riders - Los Angeles
5) San Francisco Unicorns - San Francisco
The sixth team in MLC's inaugural season will be based out of Washington D.C. However, the franchise owners of Washington DC city are yet to be announced.
The inaugural edition of MLC T20 will begin on July 13. The final of the tournament, sanctioned by US Cricket, will be held on July 30. The tournament - which will see the participation of big T20 players in the business - will be played at a newly renovated stadium in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, Texas.
The player's draft for local US players is scheduled to be held on March 19 at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The squad strength will range between a minimum of 15 players and a maximum of 18. Each franchise can have a maximum of nine overseas players.
As per the tournament rules, at least six local players (USA) should be in the playing XI. The overseas players will be direct signings by the franchises, not part of the draft.
As per reports, the franchises will have a purse of $800,000 for overseas signings and $300,000 for the US-based cricketers.