Former West Indies star all-rounder and legendary T20 cricketer Kieron Pollard will lead MI New York in the inaugural edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC), set to be played in the USA, the franchise announced on Wednesday.
Beside Pollard, the squad also features 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.
Meanwhile, South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada, young batter Dewald Brevis, and veteran Namibian all-rounder David Wiese, who has previously represented South Africa, will also be a part of the squad.
Intrestingly, all these players, barring Wiese, have also played across multiple MI Teams — Mumbai Indians, MI Cape Town and MI Emirates.
Notably in the MLC draft in March this year, 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, joined by Mumbai Indians legend Lasith Malinga, as bowling coach. J Arun Kumar and James Pamment will take charge as batting and fielding coaches respectively.
Both Arun Kumar and Pamment were a part of the coaching unit as assistant batting coach and fielding coach at Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023.
“We are thrilled to unveil team MI New York in the upcoming Major League Cricket season. Stalwart Pollard is leading the team which has international superstars Rashid Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Trent Boult, and Kagiso Rabada. It is an extraordinary line-up of youth, experience, and power,” said Akash M. Ambani, Owner of Mumbai Indians.
“Further, we have exciting talent in the form of Tim David and Brevis, while Jason Behrendorff and David Wiese are proven performers. Combined with the exceptional skills of our local US players, we are confident that MI New York will raise the bar of competition in the cricket ecosystem of the US. We are dedicated to providing our fans with the quintessential MI brand of cricket,” he added.
The upcoming inaugural edition of the MLC will be a six-team tournament and will behin from July 13 at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas.
MI New York will play their first match against San Francisco Unicorns on July 14.
Other teams in the event are Los Angeles Knight Riders, Texas Super Kings, Washington Freedom and Seattle Orcas.
As per the league’s rule, a squad 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 madatory to 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.