3 CSK players from IPL 2023 who will play for Texas Super Kings in Major League Cricket (MLC)
The inaugural season of America’s first professional T20 league, the Major League Cricket (MLC), is all set to be played among six teams in North Texas and North Carolina between July 13 and 30.
The teams competing for the maiden MLC title are the Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings, and Washington Freedom.
The Texas Super Kings (TSK), which are owned and operated by the Chennai Super Kings owner, appointed Stephen Fleming as their head coach.
Eric Simmons and Albie Morkel will be assistants to Fleming. The pair had also worked with Fleming in SA20, where the Jo'burg Super Kings lost to the Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the semi-final in Centurion.
During the MLC draft in March, TSK signed up former international players Sami Aslam and Rusty Theron, while 19-year-old Saiteja Mukkamalla, who is currently with the USA squad in Zimbabwe for the ODI World Cup Qualifier, was also among the picks.
And now TSK have announced their list of six overseas players for the first season of the MLC. And the interesting part of it is, among them are three CSK players who have won them IPL 2023.
In this article, we will discuss those CSK players who will represent their sister franchise, the Texas Super Kings, in the MLC.
#3 Mitchell Santner
The wily left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who has represented CSK in 15 matches, has found himself on the bench most of the time in his four-year IPL career.
In 2023, the all-rounder was also underutilized due to the team combination, as he got to play only 3 matches this season with a satisfactory performance. He was as usual tight and picked up 4 wickets at an economy of just 6.75 in those matches.
Currently he is plying his trade for Worcestershire, where he is in red-hot form with both bat and ball, scoring at a strike rate above 140 batting up the order.
He will be hoping for a similar role at TSK in MLC, where he should also get enough opportunities in the playing XI.
#2 Ambati Rayudu
The veteran CSK middle order batter Ambati Rayudu, who played a blinder of a knock of 19 off just 8 balls that brought CSK back into the IPL 2023 final, was one of the overseas picks for TSK in MLC.
Rayudu, who has retired from all international cricket and the IPL, will be among the few Indians to feature in the league. He is the joint-most successful player in IPL history with Rohit Sharma, with six titles—three each at MI and CSK.
And he will look to add another feather to his hat when he plys his trade for his team in a USA-based league.
#1 Devon Conway
One of the most consistent T20 batters who possesses equal dexterity in playing both pace and spin, Devon Conway was among the highest run getters in IPL 2023 with 672 runs for CSK.
He was just behind Shubman Gill and Faf Du Plessis in the race for the Orange Cap, and that speaks volumes of how good he was in this year's IPL.
If form is anything to go by, then expect a similar outing for him at TSK.