The GMR Group (co-owners of the Delhi Capitals) and Microsoft chairman & CEO Satya Nadella, as well as a consortium managed by the GMR Group, have secured the rights to own and operate a team in Major League Cricket (MLC), a new T20 franchise league in the United States that is set to start this July, news agency IANS reported.
The MLC said in a press note that the name of the franchise is Seattle Orcas. Orcas, a killer whale native to the waters off Seattle, are revered as a symbol of power and strength.
Besides Nadella and GMR, there are additional investors which include Soma Somasegar (managing director of Madrona Ventures), Samir Bodas (co-founder and CEO of Icertis), Ashok Krishnamurthi (managing partner of GreatPoint Ventures), and Sanjay Parthasarathy (a former senior executive at Microsoft and Avalara).
"We see America as the new frontier for cricket's growth globally, and the Pacific Northwest provides an incredible opportunity for us to bring the resources of GMR Sports to the region and help the Seattle Orcas build a team competing for championships," said Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Managing Director, and CEO of GMR Group, a Co-Owner of Delhi Capitals.
The Pacific Northwest is a hub for American cricket, with a thriving youth scene and the home of the current Minor League Cricket champions, the Seattle Thunderbolts. "It will be thrilling to see the Seattle Orcas build on that platform and compete in the inaugural Major League Cricket title this summer," MLC Tournament Director Justin Geale stated.’’
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have both purchased shares in MLC. Besides IPL, MI will also oversee the New York franchise, while Super Kings, who already own a club in the SA20, will run the Dallas franchise in Texas alongside local businessmen Anurag Jain and Ross Petrot Jr.
Incidentally, the Kolkata Knight Riders became the first IPL franchise to join the MLC circuit, partnering with Los Angeles. With the addition of three more teams, four of the six teams in the MLC will be led by IPL franchises.
The league's other two franchises are headquartered in Washington, DC and San Francisco. The Washington DC franchise, to be known as the Washington Freedom, is owned by local American investor Sanjay Govil, who has partnered with New South Wales Cricket to provide operational skills, including assisting in the formation of the squad and the establishment of a cricketing framework. A similar strategic alliance has been formed between Cricket Victoria and the San Francisco franchise, which is controlled by Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan.
MLC's inaugural season will take place from July 13 to July 30 at the newly remodelled facility in the Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, Texas, with the player draught for local US players set for March 19 at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The squad will consist of a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 18 players, with nine of them being international players. At least six players in the starting XI must be from the United States. The overseas players will be signed directly by the franchises rather than through the draft.