Texas’ first professional cricket team unveils new name and roster

Texas’ first professional cricket team now has a team name and a talented roster of players.

This is the state’s first professional cricket team in Major League Cricket (MLC), the first professional cricket team in the United States. So many firsts.

Get ready to cheer: Texas Super Kings. That’s the name. Go Kings go!

They also hired a coach and nine players after the first MLC draft, which was held Sunday, March 19, at the Space Center in Houston and broadcast live around the world.

In this event, six MLC teams representing Texas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC selected nine domestic cricketers.

The Texas team is led by coach Stephen Fleming, former captain of the New Zealand national cricket team and head coach of Chennai Super Kings of the Indian Premier League. He played in the world’s historic first Twenty20 International as captain of the New Zealand team in 2005.

Texas Super Kings also announced a partnership with Chennai Super Kings, an Indian Premier League franchise cricket team based in Chennai, India, which will bring operational expertise and help lead the Texas team to championships.

Texas Super Kings have the following domestic cricketers in their roster:

• Round 1: Rusty Theron
• Round 2: Calvin Savage
• Round 3: Bornu Milantha
• Round 4: Milind Kumar
• Round 5: Sami Aslam
• Round 6: Cameron Stevenson
• Round 7: Cody Chetty
• Round 8: Zia Shahzad
• Round 9: Sites in Mukkama

Texan Super Kings co-owner Anurag Jain points out in a statement that cricket is popular around the world and now is the time to make it popular in the US

Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, with about 2.5 billion followers worldwide, but the sport hasn’t had a chance to grow in the United States, Jain says. We look forward to having a professional team in Texas where a passionate local cricket community can support and introduce the sport to new fans across the country.

Jain, partner at Perot Jain and chairman of Access Healthcare; and Ross Perot Jr., chairman of the Perot Group, were among cricket enthusiasts and investors in a $44 million funding round that will help MLC build facilities across the country.

The MLC’s inaugural season will begin on July 13, 2023 at the first professional cricket stadium in the United States, Grand Prairie Stadium in Grand Prairie.

The 2023 season will feature 19 matches played over 18 days, with the first MLC Championship final taking place on 30 July. The stadium has a permanent capacity of 7,200 with 1,000 club and premium seats. expanding to a capacity of over 15,000 for major events, including matches in the ICC Mens T20 World Cup in 2024. Co-hosted by USA and West Indies.