Shakib Al Hasan has been signed by Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) for the upcoming (second) season of Major League Cricket (MLC), the American franchise-run T20 league.
"Shakib, of course, has a long-standing relationship with the Knight Riders family, having represented KKR in various phases - including our two championship [winning] seasons in 2012 and 2014," a statement from the Knight Riders group said. "We can't wait to see him turn up in Purple and Gold for LA Knight Riders this July."
LAKR, owned by the group that owns Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL and Trinbago Knight Riders men and women in the CPL as well as Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the ILT20 in the UAE, finished last in the inaugural season of the MLC in 2023.
From that squad, they have retained Sunil Narine, the star of KKR's table-topping run in the league stage of the ongoing IPL 2024, Andre Russell, Jason Roy, Spencer Johnson, Unmukt Chand, Ali Khan, Saif Badar, Nitish Kumar and Shadley van Schalkwyk, and drafted in local players Derone Davis, Matthew Tromp, Cirne Dry and Adithya Ganesh for the upcoming season.
The MLC player draft was held on March 21 this year, and an additional draft will be held on June 16 for the six teams to complete their squads.
The second edition of the tournament will start on July 5 with a fixture between MI New York and Seattle Orcas, the winners and runners-up of the inaugural edition. The final will be played on July 29.