MI New York Announce Team For Cricket Contest

NEW YORK, NY (IANS) – Former West Indies big-hitting all-rounder and legendary T20 cricketer Kieron Pollard will captain MI New York in the inaugural edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC) to be played in the US, the franchise announced on June 14.

The squad also includes Afghanistan’s T20I captain Rashid Khan, former West Indies skipper Nicholas Pooran, New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult and the Australian duo of the big-hitting Tim David and pacer Jason Behrendorff.

The team will also feature South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada, young batter Dewald Brevis, and veteran Namibian all-rounder David Wiese, who has previously represented South Africa as well. All the players except for Wiese also play across multiple MI Teams — Mumbai Indians, MI Cape Town, and MI Emirates.

In the MLC draft in March, MI New York drafted nine local players in former captain Steven Taylor, all-rounder Nosthush Kenjige, current USA captain Monank Patel, wicketkeeper Shayan Jahangir and fast bowler Kyle Phillip, as well as Hammad Azam, Ehsan Adil, Sarbjeet Ladda and Saideep Ganesh.

Former SA & MI player and MI Cape Town General Manager Robin Peterson will be the head coach.

The 2023 edition of the MLC will be a six-team event set to happen from July 13 to 30 at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Other teams in the competition include Los Angeles Knight Riders, Texas Super Kings, Washington Freedom, and Seattle Orcas.

The squad size of all six teams can be a maximum of 19 players, of which nine can be overseas players. A maximum of six international players are permitted in the playing XI, with five domestic players to always feature in each match and ten domestic players on each roster. The overseas players are direct signings by the franchises were not part of the draft.