Major League Cricket: IPL’s most successful franchises, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai (Super Kings) have entered the US market. The two teams, alongside Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders, have bought stakes in Major League Cricket (MLC) franchises, a new tournament set to kick off in the USA in August. The investment comes after IPL teams successfully purchased all 6 teams in the recently held SA20. 5 teams in the ILt20 also have IPL and WPL links. Follow IPL 2023 LIVE Updates on Insidesport.IN
Major League Cricket Teams owned by IPL franchises
- New York – Mumbai Indians
- Los Angeles – Kolkata Knight Riders
- Texas – Chennai Super Kings
- Seattle – Delhi Capitals
Kolkata Knight Riders were the first to join the Major League Cricket bandwagon are were the early investors in the tournament. The two-time champions take charge of the Los Angeles franchise. KKR have a strong presence in the West, also owning CPL side Trinbago Knight Riders.
Mumbai Indians will run the New York franchise as they continue their rapid expansion spree. In the last year, MI have acquired teams in the ILT20, SA20 and the WPL, alongside their IPL franchise. The MLC is another feather added to their cap. Cricbuzz understands, MI’s Rahul Sanghvi and J Arun Kumar will handle the scouting activities in the US for the tournament.
Delhi Capitals, like Mumbai Indians, also have stakes in 5 tournaments including the MLC. Jointly owned by GMR Sports Private Ltd and Jindal Sports West, it is the former that has entered a partnership to run the Seattle franchise. GMR has teamed up with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The team will be known as ‘Seattle Orcas’, a killer whale native to the ocean waters around Seattle. As per Cricbuzz, The GMR group had sent Delhi Capitals scouts to Houston to oversee a selection tournament in Houston.
IPL teams and their associations in foreign leagues
| IPL | WPL | ILT20 | SA20 | MLC | CPL |
| Mumbai Indians | Mumbai Indians | MI Emirates | MI Cape Town | New York franchise | – |
| Delhi Capitals | Delhi Capitals | Dubai Capitals | Pretoria Capitals | Seattle Orcas | – |
| CSK | – | – | Joburg Super Kings | Team Texas | – |
| KKR | – | Abu Dhabi Knight Riders | – | Los Angeles Team | Trinbago Knight Riders |
| SRH | – | – | Sunrisers Eastern Cape | – | – |
| Rajasthan Royals | – | – | – | – | Barbados Royals |
| Punjab Kings | – | – | – | – | St Lucia Kings |
| RCB | RCB | – | – | – | – |
| Gujarat Titans | – | – | – | – | – |
| Lucknow Super Giants | – | – | – | – | – |
| – | Gujarat Giants | Gulf Giants | – | – | – |
| – | UP Warriorz | Sharjah Warriors | – | – | – |
Other than Nadella and GMR, the other investors in the Orcas franchise comprise 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).
Chennai Super Kings meanwhile have partnered with a local investor to purchase the Texas franchise. CSK missed out on owning a Women’s IPL team but was eager to step into the market and expand. Local investors Anurag Jain and Ross Petrot Jr partnered with the four-time IPL winners, with former CSK all-rounder Albie Morkel set to undertake scouting activities in the US.
Australian state sides follow IPL franchises
The remaining two teams in Major League Cricket are based out of Washington and San Francisco. Both franchises have signed partnerships with Australian state sides. Washington Freedom, owned by American investor Sanjay Govil has tied up with New South Wales. NSW will provide operational expertise including helping set up the squad and putting a cricketing structure in place for the franchise. The San Francisco franchise is owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, and Cricket Victoria.
BCCI’s stance
The BCCI is clearly not happy with IPL teams expanding abroad but understands they have very little say in the matter. The BCCI representatives appeared to discourage the franchises from competing in international T20 leagues at the owners’ meeting in Kochi in December.
Although the BCCI didn’t express any objections, it was clear that they were not amused by the IPL franchises’ participation in international leagues.
“They were suggesting that our presence in foreign leagues could dilute the value of the IPL,” a franchise official told Cricbuzz back in December.
IPL president Arun Singh Dhumal and BCCI secretary Jay Shah were also in attendance at the meeting. Dhumal gave a pretty politically correct response when questioned about it, choosing to play it safe.
“Not really. Other boards have all the right to start their leagues. But we have seen that the IPL is way ahead. A few of them (franchise owners) have interests in other leagues. They have to look after their business interests. We can’t stop them. They have money in their kitty, so it is their choice,” Dhumal said.
Major League Cricket Rules
Teams representing Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Texas and Washington, D.C. will pick nine domestic players with additional overseas player signings to be announced in the coming days. The overseas players will be direct signings by the franchises, not part of the draft.
All six teams will converge in the Dallas area for a combined 19 games over 18 days starting July 13 and leading up to the final on July 30. The first weekend of games will be played at the renovated cricket-specific Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas.
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