The inaugural player draft of Major League Cricket took place on March 20 at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. Multiple International stars including Aaron Finch, Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje got signed by the 6 franchises. India’s Under-19 sensation Unmukt Chand too will feature in the league after being picked up by Los Angeles Knight Riders.
MLC 2023 will start on July 13 while the final of the mega event will be played on July 30. The tournament will feature 6 franchises that will play a total of 18 matches amongst them.
Former Australian captain Aaron Finch caught all the headlines after he was picked by the San Francisco Unicorns. Finch will lead the San Francisco-based franchise. Aaron Finch had announced his retirement from International cricket earlier this year on February 6.
Apart from Finch, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Mitchell Marsh, Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje and Shehan Jayasuriya are some of the International stars that will feature in Major League Cricket 2023.
The six franchises have also picked nine US-based players. This also includes the Under-23 category. The six franchises are likely to sign a few more International stars in the coming weeks.
Unmukt Chand, who has played his domestic cricket from Delhi will represent the Los Angeles Knight Riders in MLC 2023. Unmukt Chand had led the Indian U-19 team which went on to clinch the World Cup title in 2012. Milind Kumar, who too hails from Delhi will be seen playing for the Texas Super Kings.
Major League Cricket 2023: Full list of players signed by 6 franchises
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.
Texas Super Kings:
Rusty Theron, Calvin Savage, Lahiru Milantaha, Milind Kumar, Sami Aslam, Cameron Stevenson, Cody Chetty, Zia Shahzad, Saiteja Mukamalla.
Los Angeles Knight Riders:
Ali Khan, Unmukt Chand, Jaskaran Malhotra, Nitish Kumar, Corne Dry, Ali Sheikh, Saif Badar, Shadley Van Schalhywh, Bhaskar Yadram.
Washington Freedom:
Anrich Nortje, Wanindu Hasaranga, Andries Gous, Mukhtar Ahmed, Obus Pienaar, Saurabh Netravalhar, Saad Ali, Dane Piedt, Sujith Gowda, Justin Dill, Akhilesh Bodugum
MI New York:
Steven Taylor, Hammad Azam, Ehsan Adil, Nosthush Henjige, Monank Patel, Sarbjeet Ladda, Shayan Jahangir, Usman Rafiq, Saideep Ganesh
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