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STUMP VISION JUNE 27, 2025 | The Indian Eye 42

MLC Season 3: Cricket Takes

Root in the American Soil

LA 2028. Season 3 of Major League Cricket. See the parallel? See the connection?

DR NILESH MEHTA

ow, with a new home at the historic Oak-
land Coliseum, something bigger is taking
Nshape. Is it all coming together?
We’ll find out. But one thing is clear: a “new”
sport — well, sort of — is knocking loudly on the
doors of the American sports landscape. Cricket
has arrived. And this time, it means business.
Cognizant Major League Cricket (MLC) is
the premier professional T20 cricket league in the
United States. It showcases world-class talent and
delivers high-quality cricket experiences to fans
nationwide. Exclusively sanctioned by USA Crick-
et, MLC features superstar players from across the
globe. Six franchises currently compete: the Los
Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Fran-
cisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings,
and Washington Freedom.
A new tree has been planted in this crowded
arena of American sports. Like all young trees, it
will need care, water, and time. It will need youth-
ful energy. Vision. Patience. After all, soccer once
stood where cricket now stands. Over the decades,
soccer was watered, fertilized, and nurtured. Now,
it’s blooming.
But here’s the lingering question: Can a sport
truly thrive in the U.S. if only a committed diaspo-
ra keeps it alive?
Perhaps not.
People often talk about “grassroots” and
“mainstream” as separate stages. They’re right.
But the roots of cricket lovers in America often lie
far away — in India, Pakistan, the Caribbean, New
Zealand, South Africa, and Australia. The attempt
now is to recreate that emotion, that madness, in
American soil. The writer with a few of the legends who have been invited by MLC — Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, and Adam Gilchrist
In that sense, the cricket diaspora is like a bee.
It crosses oceans, carrying the pollen of passion,
hoping to plant something that blooms in foreign vast and climatically diverse country, cricket can’t stability over national duty?
fields. With time, those flowers — the cheers, the be played everywhere year-round. Chicago, for We say, “Make hay while the sun shines.”
rivalries, the stars — might just bear fruit. instance, has a thriving cricket-loving population. But what if you’re in Seattle, where the sun rarely
Season 3 of MLC began with a bang, and that But nature isn’t always kind to outdoor sports in obliges? In Phoenix, yes — it shines nearly every
helps. New Zealand’s Finn Allen didn’t just an- winter. That’s why MLC has strategically chosen day. But sport, like life, has its rainy seasons.
nounce his arrival — he thundered it across the cricket-friendly climates — for now. This doesn’t The Club vs Country dilemma won’t vanish.
Oakland sky. His 151 off 51 balls was more than mean Chicago won’t ever host high-level cricket. But let’s stop calling these players unpatriotic.
just a T20 masterclass. It was a sales pitch for crick- It’s just about timing the bloom. They’re not disloyal — they’re just looking after
et in America. And then there’s the ongoing debate — Club their future.
The second match between MINY and TSK vs Country. MLC will keep attracting such players. And
was full of action, including a baseball-like plunge Athletes don’t have the luxury of time. Careers one of them — Nicholas Pooran — has made
at second base to avoid getting out. Three run-outs are short. Not every cricketer transition into com- headlines for choosing club over country. A proud
and a three-run loss added flavor to the match at- mentary like Sunil Gavaskar. Many simply fade product of Naparima College in Trinidad, Pooran
tended by 6,000 fans. into anonymity, struggling to make ends meet. So, now captains MI New York. He’s not a deserter.
Venue selection, too, has been brilliant. In a can we really blame them for choosing financial He’s a professional with a plan.

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