Cricket is all set to hit a significant milestone this week with the launch of Major League Cricket in the US as Texas Super Kings face off against Los Angeles Knight Riders at America's new premier venue in Dallas on July 14.
All six teams comprising some of the major cricket players and local American talents would play 18 games, leading up to the first-ever championship final on July 30.
Eleven matches will take place at Grand Prairie Stadium near Dallas in Texas, while seven games are scheduled to take place at Church Street Park in North Carolina.
All the tickets for the first match, at the cricket-specific stadium featuring 7,200 seats and a grass wicket meeting the highest levels of international standards, have been sold off, the organisers said.
The six teams are Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings and Washington Freedom.
Most of the teams are owned by Indian Americans who are venture capitalists, in the IT and start-up sector.
The inaugural season will be played in a round-robin format with the four best performing teams competing in a multi-game playoff and final round to decide a champion, to be crowned on July 30, a media release said.
Based out of Seattle Washington State, the Seattle Orcas are owned by an investor group including Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella, Soma Somasegar, Samir Bodas, Ashok Krishnamurthi, and Sanjay Parthasarathy – and the GMR Group.
Los Angeles Knight Riders are based out of Los Angeles and is owned by Knight Riders Groups. San Francisco Unicorns is owned by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, co-founders of Cambrian ventures.
Texas Super Kings are co-owned by the Chennai Super Kings, Ross Perot Jr., and Anurag Jain; while Washington Freedom team is owned by Indian American entrepreneur Sanjay Govil.
"It's not only the Indian diaspora that is very excited, those from Australia, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand are also excited about the start of the Major League Cricket in the United States," said an avid cricket fan, M R Rangaswami from San Francisco, who is flying to Dallas to watch the opening match.
Star players set to take part include Afghanistan T20 captain Rashid Khan, South African internationals Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and David Miller, West Indians Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo, Australians Marcus Stoinis and Aaron Finch, England's Jason Roy and Liam Plunkett, Sri Lankan Dasun Shanaka and New Zealand's Trent Boult.
Players have been drafted mainly from all major cricket playing nations except for India, because of the existing rules of the BCCI.
"The US media market is the largest in the world. So, at some point, they'll realise that sending these (Indian) players is good for everybody," Rangaswami told PTI.
Ahead of the start of the games, Sameer Mehta, co-founder of Major League Cricket said fans will experience an unforgettable night for cricket in America, with a full house welcoming the world's top players to Grand Prairie Stadium for the opening match.
"Since we arrived in Texas, it's been incredible to see the support for the Texas Super Kings.
"We can't wait to get out on the field at Grand Prairie Stadium and represent the Lone Star State in front of a full house and be part of a special night for cricket in America," said Faf du Plessis, captain of the Texas Super Kings.
"It's going to be a historic night at Grand Prairie Stadium, as the first ever Major League Cricket game unfolds in front of a packed stadium this Thursday night. I've always spoken about wanting to represent the Knight Riders wherever they play.
"We've long talked about coming to the United States and I'm glad it's finally happening.
"It's great to hear that the opening game has been sold out, and we can't wait to bring our exciting brand of cricket to the cricket fans in America." said Sunil Narine, captain of the Los Angeles Knight Riders.
Anurag Jain, co-owner of the MLC Texas Super Kings Cricket, said, "We look forward to having a professional team in Texas for the passionate local cricket community to root for and to introduce the sport to new fans across the country.
