The Los Angeles Knight Riders is a professional T20 squad that will be part of the upcoming Major League Cricket 2023 in the USA. Major League Cricket or MLC is actually a T20 tournament that comprises 6 teams representing the various regions of the USA and the American Cricket Enterprises administer it. The LA Knight Riders, originally introduced in 2020 as a team participating in Major League Cricket, are representing Los Angeles, California.
The official ownership of this team, known as LA Knight Riders, falls under the control of the IPL franchise KKR, which is affiliated with Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and Jay Mehta. In December 2020, Major League Cricket announced that the Knight Riders Group had acquired a portion of the league, consequently granting them the rights of ownership over the LA Knight Riders. The Knight Riders group made a strategic investment in the MLC to serve as "consultants" to assist USA Cricket in managing the six-team T20 league.
The team's intention was to establish their home venue at the Great Park situated in Irvine, California. So, Great Park Cricket Stadium with a capacity of 10,000 cricket fans to take in is the home ground for LA Knight Riders for the upcoming MLC 2023 in the USA.
The selection process for the MLC 2023 took place on 19th March 2023 where The Knight Riders, in the conclusive stage of the draft, opted for Ali Khan from the Hurricanes as their primary selection. During the entirety of the draft process, the Knight Riders secured a multitude of players including Unmukt Chand from India, and Jaskaran Malhotra from the United States. Notably, Malhotra gained recognition for his remarkable achievement of hitting six sixes in a single over while playing against Papua New Guinea.
It was on the 13th of June when the Knight Riders unveiled their comprehensive squad, comprising highly regarded T20 specialists such as Jason Roy from England, Rilee Rossouw from South Africa, and Martin Guptill from New Zealand. They included West Indies’s Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell as an all-rounder. Lockie Ferguson from New Zealand, Adam Zampa, and Locki Ferguson are also included in the squad to handle the bowling department. The final decision and announcement for the captain and head coach of the LAKR are yet to be decided.
The LA Knight Riders will kick off their journey in Major Premier League 2023 on 13th July against Texas Super Kings at Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas. Then they will play their 2nd and 3rd match against MI New York and San Francisco Unicorns on 16th July and 18th July in the same stadium. LAKR will move to Church Street Park, Morrisville for playing their 4th and 5th match against Washington Freedom and Seattle Orcas on the 20th and 23rd of July.