CSK, DC, MI to own teams in Major League Cricket
Three Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Delhi Capitals will be owing teams in the Major League Cricket (MLC). MLC is a new T20 franchise league in the USA, which will be launched in July this year. As per ESPNcricinfo, MI, CSK, and DC have bought stakes in teams based in New York, Texas, and Seattle, respectively. Here's more.
Four IPL-based teams in MLC
Besides MI, CSK, and DC, Kolkata Knight Riders will be a part of MLC. KKR have the charge of the Los Angeles franchise. This means four of the six teams in MLC will be owned by IPL franchises. Capitals have joined hands with Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella to run the Seattle-based team. CSK, too, have allied with a local investor.
DC's franchise to be called Seattle Orcas
While DC is co-owned by GMR Sports and Jindal Sports West, the former reportedly entered into a partnership with Nadella. MLC confirmed that the DC-owned franchise will be called Seattle Orcas. Soma Somasegar (managing director, Madrona Ventures), Samir Bodas (co-founder, Icertis), Ashok Krishnamurthi (managing partner, GreatPoint Ventures), and Sanjay Parthasarathy (former senior executive at Microsoft and Avalara) are the other investors in the team.
Which are the other two franchises?
The two other franchises in MLC are based out of Washington DC and San Francisco. The Washington DC franchise, which is owned by local American investor Sanjay Govil, will be called Washington Freedom. The San Francisco franchise is jointly owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan. Meanwhile, MI and KKR will run their respective franchises on their own.
MLC will get underway on July 13
Meanwhile, the inaugural season of MLC run between July 13 and July 30. The newly renovated facility in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, Texas, will host the competition. The squad size will be between 15 and 18 players, of which a maximum of nine can be overseas players. At least six local US players should feature in a XI.
