Los Angeles Knight Riders

Los Angeles Knight Riders

League	Major League Cricket
Personnel
Captain	Sunil Narine
Owner	Knight Riders Group [1]
Team information
City	Los Angeles, California, United States (planned)
Colours	Purple and Gold
Founded	2020;5 years ago (2020)
Home ground	Great Park Cricket Stadium (planned)
Capacity	10,000 (planned)
Official website	https://www.lakriders.us/
T20 kit

Knight Riders Group
Current Teams
Kolkata Knight Riders (2008-present) X 3 (2012, 2014, 2024) Trinbago Knight Riders (2015-present) X 4 (2015, 2017, 2018, 2020) Trinbago Knight Riders Women (2022-present) X 1 (2022) Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (2023-present) Los Angeles Knight Riders (2023-present)
Defunct Teams
Cape Town Knight Riders (2017)

The Los Angeles Knight Riders are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in the Greater Los Angeles area that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). ^[2] The team's planned home ground is in Great Park in Irvine, California.

The franchise is owned by the Knight Riders Group, a sporting subsidiary alliance between Red Chillies Entertainment and the Mehta Group. ^[3] The Knight Riders' minor league affiliate—the Los Angeles Lashings compete in Minor League Cricket. ^[4]

History

Background

In December 2020, it was announced by Major League Cricket that the Knight Riders Group had bought a stake in their league, and as a result, was given ownership rights to the LA Knight Riders. ^{[5] [6]} Plans for the team were reaffirmed in April 2021 with CEO Venky Mysore stating that the team would even have their own stadium. ^[7] More plans on this stadium would be revealed nearly a year later in April 2022, with plans for a 10,000-seat cricket stadium costing $30 million. ^{[8] [9]}

In July 2022, Mysore reaffirmed once again his intent of starting a brand in L.A. stating that, "we [the Knight Riders Group] also made a big investment in... MLC where we were involved from the inception of the idea. We'll be setting up [the] LA Knight Riders and we're also building a stadium [there]...". ^[10] In November later that year, the 2023 season of MLC was officially announced. ^[11] Shortly thereafter, in March 2023, more information about the LA Knight Riders was revealed, including the unveiling of its team logo. ^{[12] [13]}

2023 season

Prior to the launch of the official season, it was announced the MLC's inaugural domestic draft would take place on March 19, 2023. ^[14] The Knight Riders had the final pick of the draft and selected the Hurricanes' Ali Khan as their first draft pick. ^[15] Over the course of the draft, the Knight Riders selected various players including the likes of Unmukt Chand, Corné Dry, and Saif Badar. ^[16] The Knight Riders announced their full squad on June 13, with England's Jason Roy, Australia's Adam Zampa, West Indies' Sunil Narine and New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson all in the mix. ^[17] Mysore, upon the squad's unveiling, stated that, "we have assembled a strong and talented team for the debut season of MLC, who can compete at the highest level and bring joy to cricket fans around the world". ^[18] On July 10, team management announced that Narine would lead the team as the captain and that Phil Simmons would be the team's head coach. Alongside Simmons, Bharat Arun and Ryan ten Doeschate were subsequently announced as the team's bowling and batting coaches, respectively. ^[19]

2024 season

Ahead of the 2024 season opener on July 5, the Knight Riders retained a vast majority of their squad, including Roy, Narine, and Chand. ^[20] The team would also sign various overseas and domestic players, consisting of the likes of Bangladeshi Shakib al Hasan and local boy Matthew Tromp. ^{[21] [22]}

Current squad

• Players with international caps are listed in bold. ^[23]
• Direct signings are players that have been bought by the team for undisclosed prices overseas. ^[24]

Los Angeles Knight Riders roster

Position	Name	Nationality	Date of birth (age)	Batting style	Bowling style	Year signed	Notes
Batters	Jason Roy	England	(1990-07-21) July 21, 1990 (age 34)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	2023	Direct signing
	David Miller	South Africa	(1989-06-10) 10 June 1989 (age 35)	Left-handed	Right-arm off break	2024
	Nitish Kumar	United States	(1994-05-21) May 21, 1994 (age 30)	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break	2023
	Saif Badar	Pakistan	(1998-07-03) July 3, 1998 (age 26)	Right-handed	Right-arm legbreak	2023
	Unmukt Chand	India	(1993-03-26) March 26, 1993 (age 31)	Right-handed	Right-arm off-break	2023
All-Rounders	Andre Russell	West Indies	(1988-04-29) April 29, 1988 (age 36)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	2023	Direct signing
	Shadley van Schalkwyk	United States	(1988-08-05) August 5, 1988 (age 36)	Left-handed	Right-arm medium	2023
	Sunil Narine	West Indies	(1988-05-26) May 26, 1988 (age 36)	Left-handed	Right-arm off-break	2023	Direct signing; Captain
	Matthew Tromp	South Africa	(2005-04-01) April 1, 2005 (age 19)	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast	2024
	Shakib Al Hasan [25]	Bangladesh	March 24, 1987 (age 37 )	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2024	Direct Signing
Wicket-Keepers	Aditya Ganesh	India	(1991-10-09) October 9, 1991 (age 33)	Left-handed		2024
Bowlers	Adam Zampa	Australia	(1992-03-31) March 31, 1992 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm legbreak	2023	Direct signing
	Ali Khan	United States	(1990-12-13) December 13, 1990 (age 34)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2023
	Corne Dry	South Africa	(1993-02-04) February 4, 1993 (age 32)	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium	2024	released & re-drafted in 2024
	Spencer Johnson	Australia	(1995-12-16) December 16, 1995 (age 29)	Left-handed	Left-arm fast	2023	Direct signing
	Derone Davis	West Indies	(1992-10-14) October 14, 1992 (age 32)	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox	2024
	Josh Little	Ireland	(1999-11-01) 1 November 1999 (age 25)	Right-handed	Left-arm medium-fast	2024	Direct signing
	Waqar Salamkheil	Afghanistan	(2001-10-02) October 2, 2001 (age 23)	Right handed	Left-arm wrist spin	2024	Direct signing

Administration and support staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Phil Simmons
Assistant coach	TBD
Bowling coach	Bharat Arun
Team Manager	Wayne Bentley
Analyst	TBD
Physiotherapists	Prasanth Panchada Ruel Rigsby
Strength and conditioning coach	Sagar VM
Source:

Performance

Standings

Year	League standing	Final standing
2023	6th	League stage
2024	5th	League Stage

Team statistics

Opponents	Played	Wins	Losses	NR
MI New York	2	0	2	0
San Francisco Unicorns	3	0	2	1
Texas Super Kings	2	1	1	0
Seattle Orcas	3	2	1	0
Washington Freedom	2	0	2	0

Season summary

Year	Played	Wins	Losses	NR
2023	5	1	4	0
2024	7	2	4	1

References

1. Shamya Dasgupta and Peter Della Penna (November 30, 2020). "Knight Riders Group buys stake in USA T20 franchise project Major League Cricket". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved May 2, 2023.
2. "KKR's Shah Rukh Khan buys LA-based team, hopes to bring Hollywood closer to cricket with LA Knight Riders". Times Now. December 1, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
3. Ramachandran, Naman (May 1, 2022). "Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders Group to Invest in $30 Million Cricket Stadium Near Los Angeles". Variety . Retrieved May 2, 2023.
4. Meyer, Nhat (August 14, 2022). "Photos: Fans flock to professional cricket match". The Mercury News . Retrieved May 2, 2023.
5. Ganguly, Sudipto (December 1, 2020). "IPL's Knight Riders buy stake in U.S.-based Major League Cricket". Reuters . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
6. "Shah Rukh Khan invests in American cricket's future, buys Los Angeles franchise of cricket league, names it LA Knight Riders". The Economic Times. December 1, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
7. Sajad, Kal (April 20, 2021). "The story of the Knight Riders brand". BBC Sport . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
8. "Knight Riders to build cricket stadium in Los Angeles". The National . May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
9. "Shah Rukh Khan's Knight Riders Group all set to build 'a world class cricket stadium' in Los Angeles". The Indian Express. April 30, 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
10. Khosla, Varuni (July 18, 2022). "US ranks at number two on cricket consumption: Venky Mysore". Mint . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
11. Della Penna, Peter (November 15, 2022). "Major League Cricket set for July 2023 launch in Dallas". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
12. Gollapudi, Nagraj (March 16, 2023). "Owners of Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals to own teams in MLC". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
13. Los Angeles Knight Riders [@LA_KnightRiders] (March 18, 2023). "Coming soon, to the city of stars" (Tweet). Retrieved May 4, 2023– via Twitter.
14. Della Penna, Peter (February 3, 2023). "MLC set to launch with draft on March 19 at NASA's Johnson Space Center". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
15. Della Penna, Peter (March 20, 2023). "Harmeet Singh goes first in MLC Draft to Seattle Orcas; Ali Khan and Unmukt Chand snapped by LA Knight Riders". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
16. Srivatsan, Padmaja (March 20, 2023). "MLC 2023 Draft: After BBL stint, Under-19 captain Unmukt Chand gets picked up by LA Knight Riders, Corey Anderson & Aaron Finch also get takers in Major League Cricket". Inside Sport . Retrieved May 4, 2023.
17. "Russell, Narine, Roy and Ferguson join Knight Riders in Los Angeles for MLC". ESPNcricinfo. June 13, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
18. Ramesh, Akshay (June 13, 2023). "MLC 2023: Narine, Russell are Knight Riders again". India Today . Retrieved June 13, 2023.
19. "Narine to lead LA Knight Riders, Simmons named head coach". ESPNcricinfo . July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
20. Roller, Matt (February 15, 2024). "MLC: Rashid, Klaasen, Pooran, Boult, Rauf among overseas players retained". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved July 6, 2024.
21. Patel, Smit (July 5, 2024). "Four fresh domestic faces to watch out for in the MLC season 2". Cricbuzz . Retrieved July 6, 2024.
22. "Los Angeles Knight Riders sign Shakib al Hasan for MLC 2024". ESPNcricinfo . May 17, 2024. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
23. https://mlct20usa.com/los-angeles-knight-riders-lakr/
24. "Finch to captain San Francisco in Major League Cricket, Seattle sign De Kock". Reuters . March 20, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
25. "Los Angeles Knight Riders sign Shakib Al Hasan for MLC 2024". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved June 3, 2024.