Sunil Narine, veteran West Indies spinner will lead the Los Angeles Knight Riders in the first edition of the 2023 Major League Cricket (MLC). The tournament based out of the USA will be played between July 14 to 31 across two venues, with six teams in the fray. Teams like MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings, and Washington Freedom are the teams that will fight for the top honors.
Alongside Narine, his KKR colleague Andre Russell are the two marquee names to take part for LA Knight Riders in the MLC. Lockie Ferguson, Jason Roy, Rilee Rossouw, Martin Guptill, and Adam Zampa are the other big stars in the Knight Riders squad.
After being appointed as a skipper, Narine was elated and said that he always wanted to lead the Knight Riders in whichever league. Since there are many big names in the squad, the 35-year-old is hopeful of doing well in the inaugural edition of the MLC league.
"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. As captain of this side, I am looking forward to the challenge. There are a lot of experienced guys in this team who I can bounce information off, so it will be an exciting time for us," the Trinidadian cricketer said.
Knight Riders will start their campaign by playing against Texas Super Kings, co-owned by Chennai Super Kings on July 14 at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas. The former Windies cricketer Phil Simmons has been handed over the coaching duties of LA Knight Riders. Bharat Arun, Ryan Ten Doeschate, AR Srikkanth will assist him in the Major League Cricket.
The Trinidad-based cricketer has a lot of coaching experience in international cricket as well as in T20 leagues. The 60-year-old earlier served as the Windies' head coach twice and also coached teams like Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Afghanistan.