• Saturday, November 02, 2024

Sports

Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team buys into US Major League Cricket

Indian Bollywood actor and Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Rider’s co-owner Shah Rukh Khan poses with the IPL trophy during a press conference in Mumbai on May 30, 2012. Kolkata Knight Riders claimed victory in the annual IPL Twenty20 cricket tournament final on May 27, beating defending champions Chennai Super Kings by five wickets. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read STRDEL/AFP/GettyImages)

By: Sarwar Alam

The Indian Premier League’s Kolkata Knight Riders, co-owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, have become a key partner in the bid to launch Major League Cricket in the United States, the team said on Tuesday (1).

The two-time IPL champions have signed on for a “long-term strategic partnership (that) will include financial investment and significant expertise”, a statement said.

Major League Cricket, featuring six city-based franchises, is aiming to launch in 2022, bringing “world-class T20 cricket to America for the very first time”, it added.

“For several years now, we have been expanding the Knight Riders brand globally and closely watching the potential for T20 cricket in the USA,” Khan said in the statement.

“We are convinced that Major League Cricket has all the pieces in place to execute on its plans and we look forward to making our partnership an enormous success.”

The announcement did not say whether the Knight Riders will hold a controlling stake in the new Twenty20 league whose parent company, American Cricket Enterprises, aims to bring in top players from around the world.

ACE last month said an unused baseball stadium in Texas will be converted into a permanent cricket venue as part of plans to bring the T20 World Cup to America by 2031.

Efforts to popularise cricket in the United States have been sporadic. In 2015, Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar and Australian spin legend Shane Warne played an All-Stars series in New York, Houston and Los Angeles.

In September, American fast bowler Ali Khan joined up with the Knight Riders at the IPL in United Arab Emirates, but was unable to play because of injury.

Khan, 29, played a key role in the US gaining ODI status at the World Cricket League Division Two event in Namibia last year.

Related Stories
Videos

Nushrratt Bharuccha on Chhorii, pressure of comparison with Lapachhapi, upcoming…

Abhimanyu Dassani on Meenakshi Sundareshwar, how his mom Bhagyashree reacted…

It’s a wrap for Prabhas, Kriti Sanon and Saif Ali…