Major League Cricket 2026: Full schedule, squads, venues, format and where to watch

With the FIFA World Cup 2026 capturing global attention, cricket is also hoping to make its mark in the United States as Major League Cricket (MLC) returns for its fourth season.

The tournament, which runs from June 18 to July 18, features six franchises and some of the biggest names in world cricket. For Indian fans, the spotlight will also be on Ravichandran Ashwin, who will play his first competitive T20 tournament since retiring from international cricket.

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What is Major League Cricket?

Major League Cricket is the premier T20 franchise competition in the United States. Organised by American Cricket Enterprises and sanctioned by USA Cricket, the league was launched in 2023.

MI New York are the most successful team in MLC history, having won titles in 2023 and 2025, while Washington Freedom lifted the trophy in 2024.

When does MLC 2026 start?

The fourth edition of the tournament will be held from June 18 to July 18 (June 19 to July 19 in India).

A total of 34 matches will be played:

• 30 league-stage matches
• Qualifier 1
• Eliminator
• Challenger
• Final

MLC 2026 teams

The six participating franchises are:

• Los Angeles Knight Riders
• MI New York
• San Francisco Unicorns
• Seattle Orcas
• Texas Super Kings
• Washington Freedom

MI New York enter the tournament as defending champions after winning the 2025 final.

MLC 2026 venues

Three venues will host matches this season:

• Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas
• Oakland Coliseum, California
• Knight Riders Cricket Field, California

The playoffs and final will be played at Oakland Coliseum.

IPL connection in MLC

Several MLC teams share ownership links with IPL franchises:

• Los Angeles Knight Riders – Kolkata Knight Riders
• MI New York – Mumbai Indians
• Texas Super Kings – Chennai Super Kings
• Seattle Orcas – GMR Group (Delhi Capitals co-owners)

MLC 2026 format

The six teams will compete in a round-robin format.

The top four teams will qualify for the playoffs.

• Qualifier 1: 1st vs 2nd
• Eliminator: 3rd vs 4th
• Challenger: Loser of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Eliminator
• Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Challenger

The final will be played on July 18.

MLC 2026 live streaming and telecast details

MLC 2026 squads

Los Angeles Knight Riders

Alex Hales, Nitish Kumar, Colin Munro, Saif Badar, Karthik Gattepalli, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Matthew Tromp, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Unmukt Chand, Andre Fletcher, Jahmar Hamilton, Ali Khan, Carmi le Roux, Lloyd Pope and Kristopher Ramsaran.

MI New York

Agni Chopra, Faisal Khan Ahmadzai, Corey Anderson, Kunwarjeet Singh, Kieron Pollard, Sunny Patel, Corbin Bosch, Romario Shepherd, Tajinder Dhillon, Quinton de Kock, Monank Patel, Nicholas Pooran, Ryan Rickelton, Trent Boult, AM Ghazanfar, Nosthush Kenjige, Tristan Luus and Rushil Ugarkar.

San Francisco Unicorns

Finn Allen, Hammad Azam, Matthew Short (Captain), Aakarshit Gomel, Cooper Connolly, Aaron Hardie, Anirudh Immanuel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Juanoy Drysdale, Hassan Khan, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Oliver Peake, Saideep Ganesh, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Xavier Bartlett, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Ilyas and Zia-ul-Haq.

Seattle Orcas

Shimron Hetmyer, Sharad Lumba, Tim Robinson, Shayan Jahangir, Sujit Nayak, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Marcus Stoinis, Harmeet Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Tim Seifert, Rahul Jariwala, Ali Sheikh, Ottneil Baartman, Ayan Desai, Cameron Gannon, Jasdeep Singh, Lungi Ngidi and Tanveer Sangha.

Texas Super Kings

Faf du Plessis (Captain), Saiteja Mukkamalla, Rilee Rossouw, Abhimanyu Lamba, Milind Kumar, Shubham Ranjane, Calvin Savage, Joshua Tromp, Mohammad Mohsin, Wiaan Mulder, Smit Patel, Donovan Ferreira, Amshi de Silva, Nandre Burger, Akeal Hosein, Keshav Maharaj, Adam Milne and Hardus Viljoen.

Washington Freedom

Steven Smith (Captain), Mukhtar Ahmed, Mark Chapman, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Rachin Ravindra, Nikhil Chaudhary, Jack Edwards, Ian Holland, Marco Jansen, Obus Pienaar, Abhishek Paradkar, Andries Gous, Lahiru Milantha, Amila Aponso, Asif Mehmood, Ben Dwarshuis, Lockie Ferguson, Saurabh Netravalkar and Yasir Mohammad.

Major League Cricket 2026 schedule

Match timings in India

• League matches: 2:00 AM IST and 6:00 AM IST
• Qualifier 1: 3:00 AM IST
• Eliminator: 7:00 AM IST
• Challenger: 7:00 AM IST
• Final: 7:00 AM IST