The MLC 2023 Player draft was conducted on Monday with major names of World Cricket going under the hammer & franchisees picking the best of them. Notably, four out of six franchises in MLC are owned by IPL franchisee owners.
Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi capitals & Kolkata Knight Riders own franchisees in MLC. They made their presence felt by bagging the services of top players of world cricket in their kitty. Aaron Finch, Quinton De Kock, Marcus Stoinis & Hasaranga are the highlight picks from the MLC 2023 Player Draft.
Starting with Australian captain Aaron Finch was picked by the San Francisco Unicorns franchise & will lead the franchise in the MLC 2023.Unicorn further bid to acquire the services of Australia’s star Marcus Stoinis. Unicorns further embellished the lineup by signing Corey Anderson in Round 1 of the Players draft.
One of the top players of India’s U19 team & their Captain Unmukh Chand was picked by the LA Knight Riders in the Players draft. He was the franchise’s second pick & with Chand on board, the Knight Riders team looks potent. Chand has also featured in IPL & has a plethora of T20 league experience in his kitty. Knight Riders further picked Jaskaran Malhotra who enjoys the record of smashing the highest number of sixes in an over. There was no stopping for Knight Riders as they also acquired the services of former Canada Captain Nitish Kumar.
Coming to Seattle Orcas the side grabbed the services of one more U19 Indian team star who featured in India’s 2012 World Cup triumph. Orcas signed Harmeet Singh as their first overseas pick. They bolstered their squad by fetching the services of Australia’s in-form all-rounder Mitchell Marsh & Proteas top batter De Kock.
MI New York hired the services of former USA Captain Steven Taylor while Lion Plunkett, England’s quick was selected by San Francisco Unicorns franchise. Further Washington freedom picked two former Pakistani players Ehsan Adil & Saad Ali was picked by Washington Freedom. Washington further strengthened their squad by roping in the services of Sri Lanka’s star player Wanindu Hasaranga & Proteas’s fast bowling sensation, Anrich Nortje.
With franchisees going big in the T20 leagues it’s clear that the dominance of Franchise Leagues is growing with each passing day. Almost every cricketing nation is launching its own franchise league & entering the lucrative market of franchisee leagues. Meanwhile coming to the MLC 2023, the inaugural edition would be played in July 2023.
Let’s have a look at how teams pile up after the completion of the MLC 2023 Player Draft:
MI New York
Steven Taylor, Hammad Azam, Ehsan Adil, Nosthush Henjige, Monank Patel, Sarbjeet Ladda, Shayan Jahangir, Usman Rafiq, Saideep Ganesh
Team Texas
Rusty Theron, Calvin Savage, Lahiru Milantaha, Milind Kumar, Sami Aslam, Cameron Stevenson, Cody Chetty, Zia Shahzad, Saiteja Mukamalla
Los Angeles Knight Riders
Ali Khan, Unmukt Chand, Jaskaran Malhotra, Nitish Kumar, Corne Dry, Ali Sheikh, Saif Badar, Shadley Van Schalhywh, Bhaskar Yadram
San Francisco Unicorns
Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Tajinder Singh, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Carmi Le Roux, Brody Couch, David White, Smit Patel, Sanjay Krishnamurthi
Washington Freedom
Anrich Nortje, Wanindu Hasaranga, Andries Gous, Mukhtar Ahmed, Obus Pienaar, Saurabh Netravalhar, Saad Ali, Dane Piedt, Sujith Gowda, Justin Dill, Akhilesh Bodugum
Seattle Orcas
Quinton de Kock, Mitchell Marsh, Harmeet Singh, Shehan Jayasuriya, Shubham Ranjani, Cameron Gannon, Aaron Jones, Nauman Anwar, Phani Simhadri, Angelo Perera, Matthew Tromp
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