3 local players to watch out for in Major League Cricket 2023

The inaugural edition of the Major League Cricket competition has got underway in the United States of America, with the first leg of the matches being played out at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

A lot of impressive performances have already been on display, with some of them quite frankly taking our breath away. The standard of the game has been phenomenal.

MI New York and Texas Super Kings have dominated the competition so far, with the likes of Seattle Orcas and Washington Freedom coming into their own as well. Los Angeles Knight Riders, a subsidiary of Kolkata Knight Riders of the Indian Premier League, have had perhaps the worst showing so far, losing both the matches that they have played and that too by big margins.

A lot of local American players have caught our eye, too. Since this tournament is, in a way, meant to provide them with a pathway and help them develop, we have compiled a listicle of three such names who have impressed us the most.

Here are three local players to watch out for in Major League Cricket 2023.

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#3. Ali Khan (Los Angeles Knight Riders)

Fast bowler Ali Khan.

Express fast bowler Ali Khan, who turns out for the Los Angeles Knight Riders in the competition, is one of the brightest stars of American cricket. Known to possess decent pace, Khan can swing the ball too, often getting it to angle across the right-handers who come across him.

Khan can also bowl yorkers consistently, and this is what makes him different from others of his ilk. He has picked up four wickets so far in the competition, having bagged a couple of wickets each in the two games that the Knight Riders have played so far, against the Texas Super Kings and MI New York.

Despite his team doing poorly in this competition, Khan has done well individually. He has been seen hurrying the batters for pace, and with the prized scalp of Nicholas Pooran in his pocket, his confidence is only bound to soar further.

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#2. Shayan Jahangir (MI New York)

MI New York have had a poor start to this competition so far, winning one and losing two. Although he was not a part of their first game against San Francisco, Shayan Jahangir found his way into the team for the next two matches.

He failed to perform against Los Angeles Knight Riders but scored a fabulous 41 against Texas Super Kings. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Jahangir is the regular wicketkeeper for the USA national team but plays as a batter in MLC, given the presence of Nicholas Pooran behind the stumps.

A calm presence at the crease, Jahangir did well in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers held recently in Zimbabwe, with a brilliant century against Nepal being the icing on the cake. His ability to use his feet against the spinners has often come in handy in MLC.

If Jahangir continues in this vein of form, MI New York's batting worries might be solved very soon.

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#1. Mohammad Mohsin (Texas Super Kings)

Mohammad Mohsin (Credits: KhelTalk)

One of the biggest stories of the inaugural edition of the Major League Cricket competition is that of Mohammad Mohsin.

Left out of the initial draft, Mohsin was disappointed but managed to keep a smile on his face. He was picked up by the Texas Super Kings in the wildcard round just seven days before the tournament began, and now has seven wickets to his name! He is also the leading wicket-taker of the tournament at the time of writing.

Mohsin starred in his debut game itself, picking up 4/8 against Los Angeles Knight Riders, and followed it up with 1/28 against Washington Freedom and 2/36 against MI New York. His captain Faf du Plessis is extremely pleased with him, owing to the wide variety of tricks the leg-spinner has in his bag.

Born in Peshawar, Pakistan, Mohsin has played seven first-class matches and an equal number of List A games. Watching a leggie is always easy on the eye, and that is especially the case with Mohsin. With impeccable control over his length and drift, he can go on to achieve a lot of big things.