The Los Angeles Knight Riders, sometimes shortened to the LA Knight Riders, is an American professional Twenty20

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team plans to be based in Los Angeles, California and was originally announced in 2020 as a team to play in Major League Cricket. The Knight Riders are owned by the

Knight Riders Group Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders p ...

. The team plans to have their home ground at Great Park in Irvine, California. The stadium is expected to cost $30 million and seat upwards of 10,000 spectators once its completion around 2024 and 2025. The Knight Riders' minor league affiliate—the SoCal Lashings also separately play in MLC's developmental league, Minor League Cricket.

Franchise history

Background

In December 2020, it was announced by Major League Cricket that the

had bought a stake in their league, and as a result, was given ownership rights to the LA Knight Riders. Plans for the team were reaffirmed in April 2021 with

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Venky Mysore stating that the team would even have their own stadium. 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. In July 2022, Mysore reaffirmed once again his intent of starting a brand in L.A. stating that, "we

he Knight Riders Group He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

also made a big investment in... MLC where we were involved from the inception of the idea. We'll be setting up heLA Knight Riders and we're also building a stadium here..". In November later that year, the 2023 season of MLC was officially announced. Shortly thereafter, in March 2023, more information about the LA Knight Riders was revealed, including the unveiling of its team logo.

Season History

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. The Knight Riders had the final pick of the draft and selected the Hurricanes' Ali Khan as their first draft pick. Over the course of the draft, the Knight Riders picked up various players including the likes of Unmukt Chand, Corné Dry, and

Saif Badar Saif Badar (born 3 July 1998) is a Pakistani cricketer. He made his List A debut on 19 April 2016 for Punjab in the 2016 Pakistan Cup. He made his first-class debut for Khan Research Laboratories in the 2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy on 26 Sept ...

. The Knight Riders announced their full squad on June 13, with England's Jason Roy,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's Adam Zampa, West Indies'

Sunil Narine Sunil Philip Narine (born 26 May 1988) is a Trinidadian cricketer who plays internationally for the West Indies. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut in December 2011 and Test match debut in June 2012. Primarily an off-spin bowler, he ...

and New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson all in the mix. 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". 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 Bharat Arun (; born 14 December 1962), is a former Indian Test cricketer and bowling coach for the India national cricket team, and the current bowling coach for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Arun was a medium pacer and an attacking lower order ba ...

and Ryan ten Doeschate were subsequently announced as the team's bowling and batting coaches, respectively.

Current squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold. * Direct signings are players that have been bought by the team for undisclosed prices overseas.

Administration and support staff

Seasons

* C: champions * RU: runner-up * SF team qualified for the semi-final stage of the competition

Season summary

Note: * NR indicates No result. * Abandoned matches are indicated as no result.

References

{{Authority control Cricket teams in Los Angeles Red Chillies Entertainment Major League Cricket teams 2020 establishments in California

Franchise history

Background

Season History

2023 season

Current squad

Administration and support staff

Seasons

Seasons

Season summary

See also

References