Here is all you need to know about the ongoing National Cricket League in the USA, which features several notable current and former cricketers.
The latest among an increasingly long list of franchise leagues across the world, the National Cricket League (NCL) has been set up in the USA as a T10 tournament featuring a host of stars, both retired and currently active.
The likes of Tim David, Imran Tahir, Colin Munro and Mikyle Louis, all currently active in various franchise leagues, are part of the NCL as well. Current Test players Angelo Mathews and Shakib Al Hasan are also part of the league as captains of Atlanta Kings CC and LA Waves CC respectively.
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The other captains are retired cricketers Suresh Raina, Shahid Afridi, Dinesh Karthik and Robin Uthappa. Karthik, however, is set to play in SA20 in January 2025.
The league has also signed up legends like Viv Richards, Sanath Jayasuriya and Moin Khan as coaches of the various teams. Jayasuriya is also currently engaged as the head coach of the Sri Lankan men's national team. On October 6, the league welcomed Indian great Sachin Tendulkar to the league's ownership group.
The six teams in the league will play each other in a round-robin format before the top four qualify for the playoffs. The tournament is scheduled to run from October 4 to October 14, 2024.
Team squads for National Cricket League in USA
NY Lions CC
Suresh Raina (c), Manvinder Bisla, Oshane Thomas, Muhammad Hafeez, Tabraiz Shamsi, Upul Tharanga, Asad Shafiq, Ben Cutting, Dominic Drakes, Sourish Chakraborty, Shaurya Gaur, Syed Abdullah, Awais Tariq, Mirza Baig.
Coach: Sanath Jayasuriya
Texas Gladiators
Shahid Afridi (c), Smit Patel, Dawid Malan, James Fuller, Keemo Paul, Usman Rafiq, Jason Behrendorff, Wahab Riaz, Nick Kelly, Kennar Lewis, Ashmead Nedd, Nisarg Patel, Romeel Afzal, Jathin Varijakshan.
Coach: Moin Khan
Dallas Lonestars CC
Dinesh Karthik (c), Shoaib Malik, Dwaine Pretorius, Chris Wood, Hayden Walsh, Sohaib Maqsood, Colin Munro, Pragyan Ojha, Chris Green, Samit Patel, Matt Critchley, Chiranjeevi Saikanth Akunuri, Naqash Basharat, Gourav Sai Praveen Posani.
Coach: Viv Richards
LA Waves CC
Shakib Al Hasan (c), Adam Rossington, Tymal Mills, Rumman Raees, Tim David, Joe Burns, George Munsey, Stephen Eskinazi, Todd Astle, Waqas Saleem, Pankaj Kampli, Rishi Ramesh, Majid Zubair.
Coach: Mickey Arthur
Atlanta Kings CC
Angelo Mathews (c), Tom Moores, Sam Billings, Imran Tahir, Ben Russell, Ansh Patel, Baswan T Rao, Shubham Chopra, Tom Bruce, Saad Humayun, Danish Aziz, Naseer Jamali, Karthik Gadeela, Jimmy Neesham.
Coach: Blair Franklin
Chicago CC
Robin Uthappa (c), Arjun Mahesh, Kaleem Sana, Rehan Qaiser, Sohail Tanvir, Ravi Bopara, Chris Lynn, Leonardo Julien, Ian Souness, Karthik Sagar, Hamid Wafa, Simon Harmer, Mikyle Louis, Michael Leask.
Coach: Venkatesh Prasad
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