Los Angeles Knight Riders

The Los Angeles Knight Riders, sometimes shortened to the LA Knight Riders, are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC).[2] The team is based in Los Angeles, California and was originally announced in 2020 as a team to play in Major League Cricket.[3] The Knight Riders are owned by the Knight Riders Group.[4]

Los Angeles Knight Riders
LeagueMajor League Cricket
Personnel
CaptainSunil Narine
OwnerKnight Riders Group[1]
Team information
CityLos Angeles, California, United States
ColoursPurple and Gold
Founded2020 (2020)
Home groundGreat Park Cricket Stadium (planned)
Capacity10,000 (planned)

T20 kit

The team plans to have their home ground at Great Park in Irvine, California.[5] The stadium is expected to cost $30 million and seat upwards of 10,000 spectators once its completion around 2024 and 2025.[6] The Knight Riders' minor league affiliate – the SoCal Lashings also separately play in MLC's developmental league, Minor League Cricket.[7]

Franchise history

Background

On December 2020, it was announced by Major League Cricket that the Knight Riders Group had bought a stake in their league, and as a result, was given ownership rights to the LA Knight Riders.[8][9] Plans for the team were reaffirmed in April 2021 with CEO Venky Mysore stating that the team would even have their own stadium.[10] More plans on this stadium would be revealed nearly a year later in April 2022, with plans for a 10,000-seat cricket stadium costing $30 million.[11][12]

On July 2022, Mysore reaffirmed once again his intent of starting a brand in L.A. stating that, "we [the Knight Riders Group] also made a big investment in... MLC where we were involved from the inception of the idea. We’ll be setting up [the] LA Knight Riders and we’re also building a stadium [there]...".[13] In November later that year, the 2023 season of MLC was officially announced.[14] Shortly thereafter, in March 2023, more information about the LA Knight Riders was revealed, including the unveiling of its team logo.[15][16]

2023 season

Prior to the launch of the official season, it was announced the MLC's inaugural domestic draft would take place on March 19, 2023.[17] The Knight Riders had the final pick of the draft and selected the Hurricanes' Ali Khan as their first draft pick.[18] Over the course of the draft, the Knight Riders picked up various players including the likes of Unmukt Chand, Corné Dry, and Saif Badar.[19] The Knight Riders announced their full squad on June 13, with England's Jason Roy, Australia's Adam Zampa, West Indies' Sunil Narine and New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson all in the mix.[20] Mysore, upon the squad's unveiling, stated that, "we have assembled a strong and talented team for the debut season of MLC, who can compete at the highest level and bring joy to cricket fans around the world".[21] On July 10, team management announced that Narine would lead the team as the captain and that Phil Simmons would be the team's head coach. Alongside Simmons, Bharat Arun and Ryan ten Doeschate were subsequently announced as the team's bowling and batting coaches, respectively.[22]

Current squad
  • Players with international caps are listed in bold.
  • Direct signings are players that have been bought by the team for undisclosed prices overseas.[23]
Name Nationality Date of birth (age) Batting style Bowling style Year signed Notes
Batters
Jaskaran Malhotra United States (1998-11-04) November 4, 1998Right-handedRight-arm legbreak2023
Jason Roy England (1990-07-21) July 21, 1990Right-handedRight-arm medium2023Direct signing
Martin Guptill New Zealand (1986-09-30) September 30, 1986Right-handedRight-arm off-break2023Direct signing
Nitish Kumar Canada (1994-05-21) May 21, 1994Right-handedRight-arm off-break2023
Rilee Rossouw South Africa (1989-10-09) October 9, 1989Left-handedRight-arm off-break2023Direct signing
Saif Badar Pakistan (1998-07-03) July 3, 1998Right-handedRight-arm legbreak2023
Unmukt Chand India (1993-03-26) March 26, 1993Right-handedRight-arm off-break2023
All-rounders
Ali Sheikh United States (2003-02-23) February 23, 2003Left-handedLeft-arm orthodox2023Under-23 player
Andre Russell West Indies (1988-04-29) April 29, 1988Right-handedRight-arm fast2023Direct signing
Bhaskar Yadram West Indies (1999-09-18) September 18, 1999Right-handedRight-arm medium2023Under-23 player
Shadley van Schalkwyk South Africa (1988-08-05) August 5, 1988Left-handedRight-arm medium2023
Sunil Narine West Indies (1988-05-26) May 26, 1988Left-handedRight-arm off-break2023Direct signing; Captain
Bowlers
Adam Zampa Australia (1992-03-31) March 31, 1992Right-handedRight-arm legbreak2023Direct signing
Ali Khan United States (1990-12-13) December 13, 1990Right-handedRight-arm fast-medium2023
Corne Dry South Africa (1993-02-04) February 4, 1993Right-handedRight-arm fast-medium2023
Lockie Ferguson New Zealand (1991-06-13) June 13, 1991Right-handedRight-arm fast2023Direct signing

Administration and support staff
Position Name
Head coach Phil Simmons
Assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate
Bowling coach Bharat Arun
Team Manager Wayne Bentley
Analyst AR Srikkanth
Physiotherapists Prasanth Panchada
Ruel Rigsby
Strength and conditioning coach Sagar VM
Source:

References
  1. Shamya Dasgupta and Peter Della Penna (November 30, 2020). "Knight Riders Group buys stake in USA T20 franchise project Major League Cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  2. "KKR's Shah Rukh Khan buys LA-based team, hopes to bring Hollywood closer to cricket with LA Knight Riders". Times Now. December 1, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  3. Badwe, Akshay (December 1, 2020). "One more in the bag: Shah Rukh Khan buys Los Angeles franchise LA Knight Riders". The Bridge Chronicle. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  4. Ramachandran, Naman (May 1, 2022). "Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders Group to Invest in $30 Million Cricket Stadium Near Los Angeles". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  5. Gupta, Gaurav (April 30, 2022). "Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders and MLC to build cricket stadium in Los Angeles". The Times of India. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  6. Peter Della Penna (April 29, 2022). "MLC, Knight Riders team up for 10,000-seat stadium near Los Angeles". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  7. Meyer, Nhat (August 14, 2022). "Photos: Fans flock to professional cricket match". The Mercury News. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  8. Ganguly, Sudipto (December 1, 2020). "IPL's Knight Riders buy stake in U.S.-based Major League Cricket". Reuters. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  9. "Shah Rukh Khan invests in American cricket's future, buys Los Angeles franchise of cricket league, names it LA Knight Riders". The Economic Times. December 1, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  10. Sajad, Kal (April 20, 2021). "The story of the Knight Riders brand". BBC Sport. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  11. "Knight Riders to build cricket stadium in Los Angeles". The National. May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  12. "Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders Group all set to build 'a world class cricket stadium' in Los Angeles". The Indian Express. April 30, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  13. Khosla, Varuni (July 18, 2022). "US ranks at number two on cricket consumption: Venky Mysore". Mint. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  14. Peter Della Penna (November 15, 2022). "Major League Cricket set for July 2023 launch in Dallas". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  15. Gollapudi, Nagraj (March 16, 2023). "Owners of Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals to own teams in MLC". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  16. Los Angeles Knight Riders [@LA_KnightRiders] (March 18, 2023). "Coming soon, to the city of stars" (Tweet). Retrieved May 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  17. Peter Della Penna (February 3, 2023). "MLC set to launch with draft on March 19 at NASA's Johnson Space Center". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  18. Peter Della Penna (March 20, 2023). "Harmeet Singh goes first in MLC Draft to Seattle Orcas; Ali Khan and Unmukt Chand snapped by LA Knight Riders". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  19. Srivatsan, Padmaja (March 20, 2023). "MLC 2023 Draft: After BBL stint, Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand gets picked up by LA Knight Riders, Corey Anderson & Aaron Finch also get takers in Major League Cricket". Inside Sport. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  20. "Russell, Narine, Roy and Ferguson join Knight Riders in Los Angeles for MLC". ESPNcricinfo. June 13, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  21. Ramesh, Akshay (June 13, 2023). "MLC 2023: Narine, Russell are Knight Riders again". India Today. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  22. "Narine to lead LA Knight Riders, Simmons named head coach". ESPNcricinfo. July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  23. "Finch to captain San Francisco in Major League Cricket, Seattle sign De Kock". Reuters. March 20, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
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