Eleven Indian Domestic Cricketers Sign up for USA League: Report

Ex-India U-19 cricketer Smit Patel to play for Tridents in CPL. (free photo via IANS)

NEW YORK – As many as 11 cricketers with domestic experience in India, including ex-India under-19 player Smit Patel, former Delhi batsman Milind Kumar and ex-Gujarat pacer Siddharth Trivedi, have been named in the roster for Minor League Cricket T20 (MiLC), a 27 city-based franchise tournament in the U.S., said a media report.

The six-week league, organized by American Cricket Enterprises, will start on July 31 and will be played over weekends. It has drawn in over 80 first-class cricketers from around the world.

The report in Cricbuzz said that New Zealand all-rounder Corey Anderson will represent his home franchise Dallas while South African spinner Dane Piedt will represent DC Hawks. West Indian spinner Rahkeem Cornwall will represent Atlanta Fire while Pakistan players Sami Aslam and Hammad Azam will turn out for Golden State Grizzlies.

The report added that 11 players with ‘Indian domestic experience’ were drafted in the squads.

While the wicketkeeper-batsman Patel has already retired from tournaments organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and earned a contract with Barbados Tridents in the Caribbean Premier League, he will most likely be joined in the U.S. by Trivedi and Kumar, who has represented Delhi and Sikkim in the Ranji Trophy.

Kumar is already in the U.S. though his father told Suman Kumar told IANS on Saturday that while his son has played cricket in the U.S. and knows people related to cricket there, he is unaware of any news about his son signing a contract.

There has been speculation over another former India under-19 spinner, Harmeet Singh, joining the league. However, the player could not be reached by IANS for confirmation.