MLC franchises pick one domestic player each through a wildcard draft

Dallas (USA), July 6 Major League Cricket’s six teams each added a tenth domestic-based player to their rosters following the MLC Domestic Wildcard Draft recently, the selections providing an opportunity for local players to participate in America’s new professional franchise league

The first season of the Major League Cricket (MLC) will take place from July 13-30 in North Texas and North Carolina.

All six players, drafted on Monday, have taken part in Minor League Cricket, the leading pathway competition in the United States, with four of the wildcard picks having represented the United States National Team in international play.

The selection order continued from the MLC Domestic Player Draft held in March, giving the Texas Super Kings the first pick. The Lone Star State team selected Mohammad Mohsin, a 27-year-old leg-spin bowler who took 16 wickets for the Michigan Cricket Stars in the 2022 Minor League Cricket (MiLC) season. The second pick belonged to the Los Angeles Knight Riders, drafting experienced United States' international left-hand batter Gajanand Singh, who played in both the 2021 and 2022 MiLC seasons for the Manhattan Yorkers.

The third selection by the San Francisco Unicorns sent Amila Aponso to the Bay Area’s team. The former Sri Lankan international played in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons of MiLC for the Atlanta Fire, taking 39 wickets in 29 matches with his left-arm spin, informed a release on Thursday.

MI New York added a further United States international to their roster, selecting right-arm quick Jasdeep Singh with the fourth pick of the draft. The New Jersey native helped lead his home state New Jersey Stallions to the final of the 2021 MiLC season and has taken 28 wickets at a miserly economy rate of 5.96 in MiLC play.

The fifth pick saw the Washington Freedom select Usman Rafiq, an all-rounder who made his debut for the United States National Team back in 2018 and played in the 2021 and 2022 MiLC seasons for the Houston Hurricanes. The final pick of the draft belonged to the Seattle Orcas, who added United States National Team all-rounder Nisarg Patel to their roster, who appeared for the Hollywood Master Blasters in the 2021 and 2022 MiLC seasons.

MLC will feature top-class international talent playing alongside America’s best players for the Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings and Washington Freedom. 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.

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 Lankans Wanindu Hasaranga and Dasun Shanaka, India's Ambati Rayudu and New Zealand’s Trent Boult.

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