Chicago Tigers (cricket)

The Chicago Tigers are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that compete in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Chicago, Illinois. It was formed in 2022 as part of 3 new teams to play in the 2022 season of Minor League Cricket.[1] The franchise is owned by Raiders Unlimited.[2]

Chicago Tigers
LeagueMinor League Cricket
ConferenceCentral Division (Pacific Conference)
Personnel
CaptainCalvin Savage
OwnerRaiders Unlimited
Chief executiveVishal Shah
Team information
CityChicago, Illinois
Colours  Orange, and   Black.
Founded2022 (2022)
Home groundHanover Park
Capacity2,000
History
Notable players
Official websitechicagotigerscricket.com

T20 kit

The team's home ground is Hanover Park, located near Chicago, Illinois.[3] Ex-South African cricketers Calvin Savage and Marques Ackerman helm captaincy and vice-captaincy duties respectively.[4][5]

Saad Ali and Sami Sohail currently top the bowling and batting leaderboards with 405 runs and 22 wickets respectively.[6][7]

Franchise history

Background

Talks of an American Twenty20 league formed in November 2018, before USA Cricket became the new governing body of cricket in the United States.[8][9] In May 2021, USA Cricket announced that they had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a US$1 billion investment covering the league and other investments benefiting the U.S. national teams.[10]

In an Annual General Meeting on February 21, 2020, it was announced that USA Cricket was planning to launch Major League Cricket in 2021 and Minor League Cricket that summer,[11] but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic[12] and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA.[13] Major League Cricket was pushed to a summer-2023 launch[14] and Minor League Cricket was pushed back to July 31, 2021.[15]

In 2020, MLC launched the Chicago Catchers, the predecessor cricket team to the Chicago Tigers. The Catchers performed poorly during the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket, which thus forced MLC to terminate the Catchers after the season ended amid internal issues within the franchise.[16][17]

Following the termination of the Catchers, MLC announced the formation of the Tigers in May 2022, ahead of the 2022 Minor League Cricket season draft.[17] It was later announced that the Tigers was owned by Raiders Unlimited, which was owned by sports enthusiast and business entrepreneur Vishal Shah.[2]

2022 season
See also: 2022 Minor League Cricket season § Pacific Conference

Ahead of the 2022 season, Major League Cricket announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12.[18] Ahead of the official season, it was announced that Calvin Savage and Marques Ackerman would helm captaincy and vice-captaincy duties throughout the season.[4][5]

Throughout the season, the Tigers lost to the Strikers and Lashings once,[19] won once and lost once against the Athletics, Mustangs, and Americans,[20] won once against the Surf Riders, and won twice against the Blasters.[20] The Tigers finished second in their group, and advanced to the quarter-finals, wherein they lost to the Strikers 2-1 in a best-of-three series.[21]

Current squad
  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.
  •  *  denotes a player who is currently unavailable for selection.
  •  *  denotes a player who is unavailable for rest of the season
Name Nat. Birth date Batting style Bowling style Signed year Notes
Batsmen
Charan Sai TejaUnited States (1996-05-25) 25 May 1996Left-handedRight-arm medium2022
Karan KumarEngland (1992-09-08) 8 September 1992Right-handedRight-arm medium2022Overseas
Rishi MehtaUnited States (1993-11-13) 13 November 1993Right-handedRight-arm medium fast2022
All-rounders
Calvin SavageSouth Africa (1993-01-04) 4 January 1993Right-handedRight-arm fast2022Overseas captain
Deepchand PinnakaUnited States (1990-07-17) 17 July 1990Right-handedRight-arm medium2022
Kushal GanjiUnited States (1996-12-31) 31 December 1996Right-handedRight-arm fast2022
Manan PatelUnited States (1987-05-16) 16 May 1987Right-handedRight-arm off break2022
Marques AckermanSouth Africa (1996-03-01) 1 March 1996Left-handedRight-arm off break2022Overseas vice-captain
Mittansh NithiyanandamUnited States (2006-04-26) 26 April 2006Left-handedLeft-arm medium2022
Ocarie SimsUnited States (1995-02-11) 11 February 1995Right-handedRight-arm leg break googly2022
Prateer MehtaUnited States (1996-06-25) 25 June 1996Right-handedRight-arm medium fast2022
Ranadeep AletiUnited States (1993-07-12) 12 July 1993Right-handedRight-arm fast2022
Rohit TheteUnited States (1990-04-10) 10 April 1990Right-handedRight-arm off break2022
Sami SohailMalawi (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002Right-handedRight-arm medium2022
Saad AliPakistan (1993-10-05) 5 October 1993Left-handedRight-arm medium2022
Tejas VisalUnited States (2003-03-03) 3 March 2003Right-handedRight-arm leg break googly2022
Wicket-keepers
Sunny BhattiUnited States (1991-12-30) 30 December 1991Right-handedRight-arm medium fast2022

Statistics

Most runs
Nat. Player Span Matches Innings Runs Average HS 100 50
Pakistan Saad Ali 2022–present 13 13 405 33.75 69 0 1
South Africa Marques Ackerman 2022–present 16 16 316 21.07 73 0 1
England Karan Kumar 2022–present 13 13 297 27.00 71 0 2
South Africa Calvin Savage 2022–present 13 13 272 30.22 49 0 0
United States Charan Sai Teja 2022–present 12 12 209 17.42 54 0 1

Source: CricClubs, Last updated: 9 January 2023

Most wickets
Nat. Player Span Matches Wickets Avg BBI Econ SR 4w 5w
Malawi Sami Sohail 2022–present 16 22 19.68 6/33 8.20 14.4 1 1
South Africa Calvin Savage 2022–present 13 17 15.12 4/9 5.24 17.3 1 0
United States Ranadeep Aleti 2022–present 16 15 25.13 3/30 6.73 22.4 0 0
United States Pruthvish Patel 2022–present 16 14 24.79 4/31 8.26 18.0 1 0
United States Deepchand Pinnaka 2022–present 7 7 18.57 3/14 7.65 14.6 0 0

Source: CricClubs, Last updated: 9 January 2023

See also

References
  1. Dutt, Ela (May 9, 2022). "2022 Minor League Cricket Championship Announced". News India Times. The Times of India. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  2. "Chicago Tigers Announce Expanded Ownership Group". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. August 5, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  3. Dunmore, Tom (June 24, 2022). "Grounds Guide: Attending Minor League Matches". Major League Cricket. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  4. "Former Dolphins, Cobras All-Rounder Calvin Savage Joins Chicago Tigers". ClubCricketSA. May 21, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  5. "Marques Ackerman Joins Calvin Savage At Chicago Tigers In USA". ClubCricketSA. June 26, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  6. "Chicago Tigers - Batting (2022)". CricClubs. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  7. "Chicago Tigers - Bowling (2022)". CricClubs. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  8. Penna, Peter Della (January 8, 2019). "USA formally approved to rejoin ICC as Associate Member under USA Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  9. Penna, Peter Della (November 27, 2018). "USA plan to launch their T20 League in 2021". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  10. "USA Cricket Chooses Partner to Fund and Develop U.S.-Based Professional T20 Cricket League". USA Cricket. May 23, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  11. "USA Cricket Board Meeting February 2020". USA Cricket. February 27, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  12. "USA Cricket re-evaluating Major League Cricket debut timing due to Covid-19 concerns". SportBusiness. August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  13. "American Major League Cricket tournament launch pushed to 2023 at Annual General Meeting". Inside the Games. May 24, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  14. Penna, Peter Della (May 21, 2021). "USA's MLC T20 tournament pushed back to 2023 at AGM". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  15. Penna, Peter Della (July 30, 2021). "Minor League Cricket: T20 league in USA kicks off with Sami Aslam, Corey Anderson in the mix". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  16. Brache, Laura (June 24, 2022). "Cricket season is here, and NC's only professional team has changed. What to know". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  17. Shah, Premkumar (May 10, 2022). "Title and presenting partners announced for 2022 Minor League Cricket Championship". News India Times. The Times of India. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  18. "Title and Presenting Partners Announced for 2022 Minor League Cricket Championship". Minor League Cricket. Major League Cricket. May 5, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  19. "Minor League Cricket Week 2: Shehan Jayasuriya Dazzles With Twin Hundreds". Nation World News. July 6, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  20. Patel, Smit (July 12, 2022). "Minor League Cricket Week 3 Wrap: Silicon Valley Striker juggernaut rolls on". Cricbuzz. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  21. Nielson, Tom (August 24, 2022). "MiLC Pacific Conference Final Preview". Major League Cricket. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
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