Major League Cricket 2026: Schedule, Teams, Squads & Where to Watch

Major League Cricket 2026 is the fourth edition of the United States' flagship T20 league — and the first that arrives genuinely embedded in the global cricket calendar. Over a month of matches, six franchises with deep Indian-American ownership lines, a rapidly maturing player pool, and a TV deal that finally reaches Indian living rooms. The league has, in three short seasons, gone from curious experiment to legitimate fourth pillar of T20 franchise cricket.

This hub pulls together everything you need: the schedule, the six teams, the key Indian-connection players to watch, where to watch in India, the venues, and what is genuinely at stake for the league this season.

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Series at a glance

• Tournament window: June 18 to July 18, 2026
• Format: 34 matches — 30 in the round-robin (each team plays 10) + 4 playoffs (Eliminator, Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2, Final)
• Teams: 6 franchises (MI New York, LA Knight Riders, San Francisco Unicorns, Seattle Orcas, Texas Super Kings, Washington Freedom)
• Final: July 18, 2026 — Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas
• Broadcast (USA): Willow TV / Cricbuzz
• Broadcast (India): JioHotstar (likely) and Willow by Cricbuzz
• Defending champions: Washington Freedom (2025)
• Player pool: ~80 international + ~80 USA-domestic across squads

This is the fourth season of MLC. Season one (2023) was a 19-day proof of concept. Season two (2024) was a 28-day expansion that overlapped uncomfortably with the T20 World Cup. Season three (2025) was the league's breakout — a full month, expanded to a 30-game regular season, and Washington Freedom lifting the trophy with a Trinidadian-led core. 2026 is the consolidation season.

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The six teams

MI New York

Owned by Reliance Industries (the Mukesh Ambani group, parent of Mumbai Indians), MI New York is the most resourced franchise in MLC and has the most direct India crossover. Coached by Robin Singh with Shane Bond as bowling consultant, the squad runs heavy on West Indian and South African talent — Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell and Kagiso Rabada are the marquee names.

• Marquee: Nicholas Pooran (West Indies, captain, wicketkeeper)
• Indian connection: Reliance ownership; potential cameo from MI bench players
• Recent form: Champions in 2023; semi-finalists in 2025

LA Knight Riders

Owned by the Knight Riders Group (Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment, parent of Kolkata Knight Riders, Trinbago Knight Riders and Abu Dhabi Knight Riders), LA Knight Riders run a similar Caribbean-heavy model. Sunil Narine is the iconic player.

• Marquee: Sunil Narine (West Indies, mystery spinner)
• Indian connection: Knight Riders Group ownership; KKR coaching staff overlap
• Recent form: Finalists in 2024; eliminator exit in 2025

San Francisco Unicorns

Owned by Indian-American venture capitalists Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, the Unicorns have been the most analytically-driven franchise. Pat Cummins is the headline name, with Matthew Wade as captain.

• Marquee: Pat Cummins (Australia, fast bowler)
• Indian connection: Indian-American investor ownership
• Recent form: Finalists in 2025

Seattle Orcas

Owned by Indian-American business consortium led by Vijay Srinivasan, the Orcas have built around a stable core of West Indian and Sri Lankan internationals. Wanindu Hasaranga has been the spin spearhead.

• Marquee: Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka, leg-spin all-rounder)
• Indian connection: Indian-American consortium ownership
• Recent form: Inaugural-season finalists (2023); rebuilding seasons since

Texas Super Kings

The CSK franchise extension — owned by N. Srinivasan's Chennai Super Kings group, with the same yellow-and-gold visual identity. Faf du Plessis has been the franchise face, with Devon Conway the run machine. Mike Hussey is involved in coaching.

• Marquee: Faf du Plessis (South Africa, top-order batter)
• Indian connection: CSK ownership; CSK coaching DNA
• Recent form: Semi-finalists in 2024 and 2025; never quite over the line

Washington Freedom

The defending champions. Owned by Sanjay Govil (Indian-American tech entrepreneur) and led by Glenn Maxwell during their title run, Freedom run the deepest Australian-talent squad in the league. Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith (subject to availability) and Marcus Stoinis anchor the batting.

• Marquee: Marcus Stoinis (Australia, all-rounder)
• Indian connection: Indian-American tech ownership
• Recent form: Champions in 2025

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Indian connection: who is in the squads?

A frequently asked question: do any current Indian internationals play in MLC?

The short answer is no — the BCCI does not release Indian players to overseas T20 leagues outside of the IPL window. Active Indian internationals (Bumrah, Kohli, Rohit, Hardik, SKY, Jadeja, Jaiswal) are not eligible for MLC selection.

But the league has plenty of India-adjacent talent:

• Indian-American USA domestic players: Saurabh Netravalkar (the captain who beat Pakistan in T20 WC 2024), Harmeet Singh, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Nisarg Patel, Milind Kumar — all eligible as USA passport holders.
• Recently retired Indian Test cricketers: Some have explored MLC stints in coaching or as marquee guests, but no playing comebacks yet.
• Indian-origin overseas talent: Several players with Indian heritage represent New Zealand, Australia, or West Indies — Trent Boult's teammates, for instance, include Ish Sodhi (NZ leg-spinner of Indian origin).

The marquee international squad-by-squad picture is dominated by Caribbean (Pooran, Narine, Russell — though Russell has retired from international duty), South African (Rabada, du Plessis), and Australian (Cummins, Stoinis, Smith, Fraser-McGurk, Wade) talent. Aaron Finch makes appearances as a Unicorns ambassador. Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav appearing in MLC is speculation only — both are central to India's 2026 international calendar including the England tour and the home season, and the BCCI has not signalled any policy shift on overseas T20 league participation.

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Where to watch in India

Confirming MLC's broadcast plan for India is the league's biggest commercial priority each season. Based on the 2025 deal and typical league preferences:

• Likely Indian broadcast partner: JioHotstar (digital streaming) and Willow by Cricbuzz (digital subscription, ~₹399/year). The JioHotstar deal would put MLC into the same app as the IPL — a major distribution win.
• TV broadcast in India: TBC. Sports18 has shown interest in cross-platform deals.
• Free streaming: Selected matches may be available on FanCode or Cricbuzz's social channels.

Confirmed plans will be published 2-3 weeks before the tournament starts. We will update this section the moment the deal is final.

For viewers in the United States, the entire tournament is on Willow TV (the dedicated cricket channel; bundled with Sling TV, Hulu+ Live, YouTube TV) and Willow by Cricbuzz (direct-to-consumer streaming).

For viewers in the United Kingdom, MLC has typically been on Sky Sports Cricket through their international rights deal.

For Australia, South Africa, and the Caribbean, MLC is available through Willow's international distribution and local rights partners.

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Venues

MLC 2026 uses two primary venues:

Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas

• Capacity: ~7,200 seats with expansion plans toward 15,000 by 2027
• Pitch character: Drop-in pitches imported from Adelaide. Generally true surfaces with good carry. Boundaries on the shorter side.
• Climate in June-July: Hot (32-38°C daytime), humid, with afternoon thunderstorm risk. Most matches are evening fixtures (6-8 PM local) to manage temperature.
• Hosting share: Approximately two-thirds of the tournament including all four playoff matches and the final.

Church Street Park, Morrisville, North Carolina

• Capacity: ~3,500 seats; intimate cricket-purpose venue.
• Pitch character: Slightly slower surface than Grand Prairie; often produces tighter run-rates.
• Climate in June-July: Warm (28-32°C), with rain risk from afternoon thundershowers.
• Hosting share: Approximately one-third of the tournament across the round-robin.

For the 2026 season, MLC has confirmed both venues are upgraded with new floodlight specifications, expanded broadcast facilities, and refurbished player areas. A third venue (Florida) has been discussed for 2027 expansion but is not part of 2026.

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Owner storylines: the Indian money in MLC

The franchise ownership map is the league's most distinctive feature: five of the six franchises have Indian or Indian-American ownership. The sixth (Washington Freedom) is owned by Indian-American tech entrepreneur Sanjay Govil. In effect, the Indian diaspora and the Indian cricket industry own the entire league.

This matters because:

• Capital flows in from IPL franchise groups: Reliance (MI), Knight Riders Group (LA), CSK (Texas) all run MLC franchises as feeder/satellite operations. Coaching and analytics overlap is significant.
• Indian-American venture capital: San Francisco Unicorns and Seattle Orcas represent the new-generation Silicon Valley money entering cricket.
• The league's long-term thesis: Build cricket among the 5+ million Indian-American population, then expand to the broader US sports market. We are still in stage one.

For Indian fans, this means MLC has a built-in cultural familiarity. For American fans, it means MLC has built-in capital depth.

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What is genuinely at stake in 2026?

The league is past the proof-of-concept stage. The 2026 season is about commercial validation and on-field maturation.

1. Will the JioHotstar India deal actually happen?

A confirmed JioHotstar broadcast deal would be the single biggest growth lever for MLC. India is the world's largest cricket market by miles. Putting MLC into JioHotstar's 200+ million subscribers would 10x the league's reach overnight.

2. Can Washington Freedom defend?

Defending an MLC title is unprecedented. Freedom won 2025 with a defined Australian core. Stoinis, Maxwell (subject to availability), Smith and Fraser-McGurk all need to recommit and deliver again. If they fall apart, the title is wide open.

3. Will USA-domestic talent break through?

The MLC's long-term success depends on producing American cricketers who genuinely matter at the international level. Saurabh Netravalkar's 2024 World Cup heroics were the moment. The league needs more of those.

4. The 2027 expansion question

MLC has publicly explored an 8-team expansion for 2027, with Florida and Chicago candidate cities. The 2026 season is the commercial proof point that determines whether expansion happens on schedule.

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How to follow the season

CricJosh will be running:

• Daily previews for every fixture, with predicted XIs and pitch reports
• Live updates via the cricket calendar hub
• Player profiles for the Indian-American USA cricketers
• Post-tournament analysis breaking down what worked and what did not

Bookmark this hub. We will update it through the league.

For other 2026 franchise league previews running in parallel, see our hubs on The Hundred 2026, the Caribbean Premier League 2026, and the International League T20 2026, all linked from the cricket calendar 2026-27 page.

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Quick links

• Concurrent India tour: India tour of England 2026
• India home season after MLC: India home season 2026-27 master hub
• Just before MLC: Afghanistan tour of India 2026
• WTC context for the wider format calendar: WTC 2025-27 cycle explained
• WTC India simulator: WTC India simulator tool

For more cricket previews, see our domestic cricket category.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When does Major League Cricket 2026 start? MLC 2026 begins on June 18, 2026 with the season opener at Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas. The league runs for one month, with the final scheduled for July 18, 2026 at the same venue. 34 matches in total — 30 round-robin and 4 playoff matches.

Where can I watch MLC 2026 in India? MLC 2026 is expected to be available on JioHotstar (digital streaming) and Willow by Cricbuzz in India. The official India broadcast deal will be announced 2-3 weeks before the tournament starts. Selected matches may also be available free on FanCode or Cricbuzz social channels.

Will any current Indian internationals play in MLC 2026? No. The BCCI does not release current Indian internationals (Bumrah, Kohli, Rohit, Hardik, etc.) to overseas T20 leagues outside the IPL window. Indian-American players with USA passports — like Saurabh Netravalkar, Harmeet Singh and Nisarg Patel — are eligible and feature prominently.

Who are the defending champions? Washington Freedom won MLC 2025, defeating San Francisco Unicorns in the final. They are the first MLC champion to enter a title defence with a settled Australian-led core under captain Glenn Maxwell.

Where are the venues for MLC 2026? MLC 2026 is hosted at two primary venues: Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas (approximately two-thirds of fixtures including all playoffs and the final) and Church Street Park in Morrisville, North Carolina (approximately one-third of round-robin fixtures).

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The fourth season of MLC arrives with the league finally settled into a rhythm. Six franchises, two venues, one month of cricket, and a global cricket-fan audience watching whether American cricket can finally deliver on the promise that has been building since 2023.