5 players who played in IPL as Indians and are playing in MLC 2023 as Americans
Major League Cricket (MLC 2023) started yesterday with a clash between Texas Super Kings and Los Angeles Knight Riders. Four more teams, MI New York, Seattle Orcas, Washington Freedom and San Francisco Unicorns, are part of the competition.
MLC 2023 aims to bring about a revolution in USA cricket just like IPL did for Indian cricket. Interestingly, quite a few former IPL stars have joined the Major League Cricket tournament.
Some of the players, who played in the IPL as an Indian player, have been playing in MLC 2023 as Americans. Here's a list of five such names.
#1 Unmukt Chand, Los Angeles Knight Riders
Former India U-19 World Cup winning captain Unmukt Chand played for the Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians as a local player in the IPL. However, he did not receive opportunities in the Indian Premier League after 2016.
A few years later, Chand decided to retire from Indian cricket and shift to the United States. Last night, he made his debut as an American player for Los Angeles Knight Riders. Chand scored four runs before losing his stumps to Gerald Coetzee.
#2 Harmeet Singh, Seattle Orcas
Harmeet Singh was Unmukt Chand's teammate in ICC U-19 World Cup 2012. Although India U-19s won that mega event, neither Chand nor Singh could make it big in Indian cricket.
Singh played only one match in his IPL career, where he turned up for the Rajasthan Royals against the Pune Warriors on April 11, 2013. The left-arm spinner returned figures of 1/34, picking up Ross Taylor's wicket. He never played in IPL again. Now, he has joined the Seattle Orcas in MLC 2023.
#3 Sarabjit Ladda, MI New York
Sarabjit Ladda played nine IPL matches in his career from 2010 to 2016. The leg-spinner made his debut for the Kolkata Knight Riders against the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2010. Ladda bowled a decent spell of 0/28 on debut but could not become a regular member of the KKR team.
In 2016, Ladda joined the Gujarat Lions, where he featured in the team's first-ever playing XI for the away fixture against Punjab Kings. He bowled two overs, conceding 21 runs in what proved to be the last match of his IPL career. Ladda will don the MI New York jersey in MLC 2023 now.
#4 Tajinder Singh Dhillon, San Francisco Unicorns
Tajinder Singh Dhillon is an all-rounder from Dholpur, Rajasthan. The spin-bowling all-rounder earned a contract from Mumbai Indians in 2018, but did not get any chances to play. Two years later, Punjab Kings signed him but he failed to get a game for them either.
Dhillon quit Indian cricket soon and moved to the United States. He will play for San Francisco Unicorns in MLC 2023.
#5 Chaitanya Bishnoi, San Francisco Unicorns
Another San Francisco Unicorns player to feature on the list is Chaitanya Bishnoi. The Delhi-based all-rounder earned a contract from the Chennai Super Kings in 2018 and won the championship under MS Dhoni's captaincy that season.
While Bishnoi got a chance to lift the IPL trophy, he never got an opportunity to play in the league. Now, he has moved to the USA, where he will play for San Francisco Unicorns as a local player in MLC 2023.