The Los Angeles Knight Riders are an American professional Twenty20 cricket team based in the Greater Los Angeles area that competes in Major League Cricket (MLC). The team's home ground as of the 2026 season is the Knight Riders Cricket Ground at Fairplex in Pomona, California. They won their first MLC title in 2026.
The franchise is owned by the Knight Riders Group, a sporting subsidiary alliance between Red Chillies Entertainment and the Mehta Group. The Knight Riders' minor league affiliate—the Los Angeles Lashings compete in Minor League Cricket.
History Background In December 2020, it was announced by Major League Cricket that the Knight Riders Group had bought a stake in their league, and as a result, was given ownership rights to the LA Knight Riders. Plans for the team were reaffirmed in April 2021 with CEO Venky Mysore stating that the team would even have their own stadium. More plans on this stadium would be revealed nearly a year later in April 2022, with plans for a 10,000-seat cricket stadium costing $30 million.
In July 2022, Mysore reaffirmed once again his intent of starting a brand in L.A. stating that, "we [the Knight Riders Group] also made a big investment in... MLC where we were involved from the inception of the idea. We'll be setting up [the] LA Knight Riders and we're also building a stadium [there]...". In November later that year, the 2023 season of MLC was officially announced. Shortly thereafter, in March 2023, more information about the LA Knight Riders was revealed, including the unveiling of its team logo.
On July 1, 2026, the Knight Riders opened their home cricket ground, the Knight Riders Cricket Ground in Pomona, California.First cricket game in new Los Angeles stadium builds Olympic buzz
2023 season Prior to the launch of the official season, it was announced the MLC's inaugural domestic draft would take place on March 19, 2023. The Knight Riders had the final pick of the draft and selected the Hurricanes' Ali Khan as their first draft pick. Over the course of the draft, the Knight Riders selected various players including the likes of Unmukt Chand, Corné Dry, and Saif Badar. The Knight Riders announced their full squad on June 13, with England's Jason Roy, Australia's Adam Zampa, West Indies' Sunil Narine and New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson all in the mix. Mysore, upon the squad's unveiling, stated that, "we have assembled a strong and talented team for the debut season of MLC, who can compete at the highest level and bring joy to cricket fans around the world". On July 10, team management announced that Narine would lead the team as the captain and that Phil Simmons would be the team's head coach. Alongside Simmons, Bharat Arun and Ryan ten Doeschate were subsequently announced as the team's bowling and batting coaches, respectively.
2024 season Ahead of the 2024 season opener on July 5, the Knight Riders retained a vast majority of their squad, including Roy, Narine, and Chand. The team also signed various overseas and domestic players, consisting of the likes of Bangladeshi Shakib al Hasan and local boy Matthew Tromp.
2026 season The 2026 MLC season saw the opening of Knight Riders Cricket Ground, the first permanent home for the team. The venue hosted the third round of play from July 1 to July 5, totaling seven matches. The Knight Riders finished the season second in the table, defeating the San Francisco Unicorns in the qualifier, and the Washington Freedom in the final to claim the team's first MLC championship.
Current squad Players with international caps are listed in bold.https://mlct20usa.com/los-angeles-knight-riders-lakr/ Direct signings are players that have been bought by the team for undisclosed prices overseas. +Los Angeles Knight Riders rosterPositionNameNationalityDate of birth (age)Batting styleBowling styleYear signedNotes BattersAlex Hales Right-handed Right-arm medium 2025 Direct signingSherfane Rutherford Left-handed Right-arm fast medium 2025Direct SigningNitish Kumar Right-handed Right-arm off-break 2023 Saif Badar Right-handed Right-arm legbreak 2023 Unmukt Chand Right-handed Right-arm off-break 2023 Rovman PowellRight-handedRight-arm medium-fast2025Direct SigningAndre FletcherRight-handedRight-arm medium-fast2025Direct Signing All-RoundersAndre Russell Right-handed Right-arm fast 2023 Shadley van Schalkwyk Left-handed Right-arm medium 2023 Sunil Narine Left-handed Right-arm off-break 2023 Vice-captain Matthew Tromp Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast 2024 Jason HolderRight-handedRight-arm medium-fast2025CaptainKarthik GattepalliLeft hand BatSlow Left arm Orthodox2025Draft Signing Wicket-Keepers Aditya Ganesh Left-handed 2024 BowlersTanveer Sangha Right-handed Right-arm legbreak 2025 Direct signingAli Khan Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2023 Corne Dry Right-handed Right-arm fast-medium 2024 Spencer Johnson Left-handed Left-arm fast 2023 Anrich NortjeRight-handedRight-arm fast2025Direct Signing
Administration and support staff PositionNameHead coachDwayne BravoAssistant coachCarl CroweBowling coachOttis GibsonFielding coachGibran MohammedMentorShane WatsonTeam ManagerWayne BentleyAnalystLokesh VijayPhysiotherapistsPrasanth Panchada Ruel RigsbyStrength and conditioning coachSagar VMSource:
Performance Standings and season summary YearPlayedWinsLossesNRLeague standingFinal standing202351406thLeague stage202472415thLeague Stage2025102806thLeague Stage2026128402ndChampions
Team statistics OpponentsPeriodPlayedWinsLossesNRMI New York2023–5050San Francisco Unicorns6231Seattle Orcas7430Texas Super Kings5230Washington Freedom6150
Ground
The Los Angeles Knight Riders host games at Knight Riders Cricket Ground, built at the Fairplex in Pomona, California. Opened in 2026, the venue has a current capacity of 5,000, though the venue is designed to be expandable up to 20,000 ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Knight Riders Group Kolkata Knight Riders Trinbago Knight Riders (Men's) Trinbago Knight Riders (Women's) Abu Dhabi Knight Riders
References
External links