Among the buzz of the FIFA World Cup, the Major League Cricket (MLC) returns in the USA. The fourth edition will take place in June-July 2026.
Here’s all you need to know about the MLC 2026 season.
When does the MLC 2026 season start?
The MLC 2026 kicks off on June 18. Texas Super Kings will take on Seattle Orcas in the season opener in Dallas at 7:30 PM local time (6:00 AM IST on June 19).
Which teams are participating?
As usual, six teams will feature. Apart from the Super Kings and the Orcas, Los Angeles Knight Riders, MI New York, San Francisco Unicorns and Washington Freedom are the other four teams.
MI New York walk in as the defending champions. They have won the league twice, with the first title coming in 2023. Washington are the other side to claim the trophy in 2024.
What’s the format of the MLC 2026 season?
Like most of the leagues, the MLC 2026 follows a double round-robin format. So teams will face each other twice in the league stage.
After the league stage concludes, the top four teams will qualify for the playoffs. The playoffs involve a qualifier, eliminator, challenger and the final.
The top two teams will take on each other in the qualifier. And the next two sides will square off in the eliminator.
The qualifier loser and the eliminator winner will then lock horns in the challenger. The winner between them will face the qualifier winner in the season finale.
How many matches will be played?
A total of 34 matches, including the playoffs, will take place in the MLC 2026 season. 30 of those games are part of the group stage.
Which venues will host the matches?
Like last season, matches will take place across three venues. Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium in Pomona replaces Florida, though. It’s the home ground of the Knight Riders.
Dallas and Oakland are the other venues, with matches hosted in a caravan format. Dallas hosts 15 matches, Oakland 12 and Pomona seven.
Here are the venues:
- Fairgrounds Cricket Stadium, Pomona
- Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas
- Oakland Coliseum, Oakland
What’s the complete schedule for the MLC 2026?
Dallas will host the first leg from June 18 to 22. Then the action will move to Oakland between June 25 and 29.
Pomona, meanwhile, will make its debut between July 2 and 6. The action will return to Dallas once again from July 9 to 13.
Oakland will close out the season by hosting the playoffs from July 16 to 19.
MLC 2026 Schedule
| Date | Match | Venue | Time (Local/IST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18 | Texas Super Kings vs Seattle Orcas | Dallas | 7:30 PM/6:00 AM/6:00 AM (Jun 19) |
| Jun 19 | Los Angeles Knight Riders vs San Francisco Unicorns | Dallas | 3:30 PM/2:00 AM (Jun 20) |
| Jun 19 | Seattle Orcas vs Washington Freedom | Dallas | 7:30 PM/6:00 AM (Jun 20) |
| Jun 20 | Texas Super Kings vs San Francisco Unicorns | Dallas | 3:30 PM/2:00 AM (Jun 21) |
| Jun 20 | Washington Freedom vs MI New York | Dallas | 7:30 PM/6:00 AM (Jun 21) |
| Jun 21 | Seattle Orcas vs Los Angeles Knight Riders | Dallas | 3:30 PM/2:00 AM (Jun 22) |
| Jun 21 | Texas Super Kings vs MI New York | Dallas | 7:30 PM/6:00 AM (Jun 22) |
| Jun 24 | San Francisco Unicorns vs Texas Super Kings | Oakland | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jun 25) |
| Jun 25 | Washington Freedom vs Seattle Orcas | Oakland | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jun 26) |
| Jun 26 | MI New York vs Texas Super Kings | Oakland | 2:30 PM/3:00 AM (Jun 27) |
| Jun 26 | San Francisco Unicorns vs Seattle Orcas | Oakland | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jun 27) |
| Jun 27 | MI New York vs Los Angeles Knight Riders | Oakland | 2:30 PM/3:00 AM (Jun 28) |
| Jun 27 | Washington Freedom vs Texas Super Kings | Oakland | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jun 28) |
| Jun 28 | Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Seattle Orcas | Oakland | 2:30 PM/3:00 AM (Jun 29) |
| Jun 28 | San Francisco Unicorns vs Washington Freedom | Oakland | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jun 29) |
| Jul 1 | Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Washington Freedom | Pomona | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jul 2) |
| Jul 2 | Seattle Orcas vs MI New York | Pomona | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jul 3) |
| Jul 3 | Los Angeles Knight Riders vs Texas Super Kings | Pomona | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jul 4) |
| Jul 4 | Washington Freedom vs San Francisco Unicorns | Pomona | 2:30 PM/3:00 AM (Jul 5) |
| Jul 4 | Los Angeles Knight Riders vs MI New York | Pomona | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jul 5) |
| Jul 5 | Seattle Orcas vs Texas Super Kings | Pomona | 2:30 PM/3:00 AM (Jul 6) |
| Jul 5 | San Francisco Unicorns vs MI New York | Pomona | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jul 6) |
| Jul 8 | MI New York vs San Francisco Unicorns | Dallas | 7:30 PM/6:00 AM (Jul 9) |
| Jul 9 | Washington Freedom vs Los Angeles Knight Riders | Dallas | 7:30 PM/6:00 AM (Jul 10) |
| Jul 10 | MI New York vs Seattle Orcas | Dallas | 3:30 PM/2:00 AM (Jul 11) |
| Jul 10 | San Francisco Unicorns vs Los Angeles Knight Riders | Dallas | 7:30 PM/6:00 AM (Jul 11) |
| Jul 11 | Texas Super Kings vs Washington Freedom | Dallas | 3:30 PM/2:00 AM (Jul 12) |
| Jul 11 | Seattle Orcas vs San Francisco Unicorns | Dallas | 7:30 PM/6:00 AM (Jul 12) |
| Jul 12 | MI New York vs Washington Freedom | Dallas | 3:30 PM/2:00 AM (Jul 13) |
| Jul 12 | Texas Super Kings vs Los Angeles Knight Riders | Dallas | 7:30 PM/6:00 AM (Jul 13) |
| Jul 15 | Qualifier (No. 1 vs No. 2) | Oakland | 2:30 PM/3:00 AM (Jul 16) |
| Jul 15 | Eliminator (No. 3 vs No. 4) | Oakland | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jul 16) |
| Jul 16 | Challenger | Oakland | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jul 17) |
| Jul 18 | Final | Oakland | 6:30 PM/7:00 AM (Jul 19) |
Ongoing & Upcoming Series Schedule:
India’s Domestic Cricket Schedule 2025-26
New Zealand Schedule for 2025-26 Home Season
New Zealand vs South Africa T20I Series 2026 Schedule
World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 Full Schedule
Indian Men’s Cricket Team 2026 Schedule
Indian Women’s Cricket Team 2026 Schedule
Australia Men’s Cricket Team 2026 Schedule
England Men’s Cricket Team 2026 Schedule
England 2026 Home Season Schedule
South Africa Men’s Cricket Team 2026 Schedule
South Africa 2026-27 Home Season Schedule
New Zealand Men’s Cricket Team 2026 Schedule
Pakistan Men’s Cricket Team 2026 Schedule
India’s ODI Schedule Till 2027 Cricket World Cup
Australia’s ODI Schedule Till 2027 Cricket World Cup
South Africa’s ODI Schedule Till 2027 Cricket World Cup
England’s ODI Schedule Till 2027 Cricket World Cup
What are the squads?
All six teams have announced full-strength squads. Here’s each of them.
Washington Freedom
Batters
Steven Smith (c), Mukhtar Ahmed, Mark Chapman
All-rounders
Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Rachin Ravindra, Nikhil Chaudhary, Jack Edwards, Ian Holland, Marco Jansen, Obus Pienaar, Abhishek Paradkar
Wicketkeepers
Andries Gous, Lahiru Milantha
Bowlers
Amila Aponso, Asif Mehmood, Ben Dwarshuis, Lockie Ferguson, Saurabh Netravalkar, Yasir Mohammad
San Francisco Unicorns
Batters
Finn Allen, Hammad Azam, Matthew Short (c)
All-rounders
Aakarshit Gomel, Cooper Connolly, Aaron Hardie, Anirudh Immanuel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Juanoy Drysdale, Hassan Khan, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Oliver Peake
Wicketkeepers
Saideep Ganesh, Lhuan-dre Pretorius
Bowlers
Xavier Bartlett, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Ilyas, Zia-ul-Haq
Seattle Orcas
Batters
Shimron Hetmyer, Sharad Lumba, Tim Robinson, Shayan Jahangir, Sujit Nayak
All-rounders
Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Marcus Stoinis, Harmeet Singh
Wicketkeepers
Matthew Breetzke, Tim Seifert, Rahul Jariwala
Bowlers
Ali Sheikh, Ottneil Baartman, Ayan Desai, Cameron Gannon, Jasdeep Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Tanveer Sangha
Texas Super Kings
Batters
Faf du Plessis (c), Saiteja Mukkamalla, Rilee Rossouw, Abhimanyu Lamba
All-rounders
Milind Kumar, Shubham Ranjane, Calvin Savage, Joshua Tromp, Mohammad Mohsin, Wiaan Mulder
Wicketkeepers
Smit Patel, Donovan Ferreira
Bowlers
Amshi de Silva, Nandre Burger, Akeal Hosein, Keshav Maharaj, Adam Milne, Hardus Viljoen
MI New York
Batters
Agni Chopra, Faisal Khan Ahmadzai
All-rounders
Corey Anderson, Kunwarjeet Singh, Kieron Pollard, Sunny Patel, Corbin Bosch, Romario Shepherd, Tajinder Dhillon
Wicketkeepers
Quinton de Kock, Monank Patel, Nicholas Pooran, Ryan Rickelton
Bowlers
Trent Boult, AM Ghazanfar, Nosthush Kenjige, Tristan Luus, Rushil Ugarkar
Los Angeles Knight Riders
Batters
Alex Hales, Nitish Kumar, Colin Munro, Saif Badar
All-rounders
Karthik Gattepalli, Sunil Narine (c), Andre Russell, Matthew Tromp, Shadley van Schalkwyk
Wicketkeepers
Unmukt Chand, Andre Fletcher, Jahmar Hamilton
Bowlers
Ali Khan, Carmi le Roux, Lloyd Pope, Kristopher Ramsaran
Where to watch the MLC 2026?
In the USA, fans can tune into Willow to watch the entire MLC 2026 season. In India, Star Sports and JioHotstar will stream the matches live.
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