# 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft

The 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft took place on March 19, 2023, at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The draft was conducted over 9 rounds via a "snake" format, where the team order is reversed every round. Out of the 9 rounds, 8 were general draft picks, with the final round being exclusively for U-23 players.
Out of the total of over 100 players who entered, a total of 54 players were drafted, with another 6 overseas players announced during the draft.

## Rules

Each team had to mandatorily pick a U-23 player in the ninth round, irrespective of whether or not they selected one in rounds before. Each team also had only three minutes to select a player in rounds 1–5, with the time shortened to 2 minutes for rounds 6–9. Additionally, there were no trading of picks allowed during the draft.

## Salary cap

The draft had fixed salary caps for each round, with the highest being $75,000 in the first round and the lowest being $2,500 in the ninth round.
* First Round – $75,000
* Second Round – $65,000
* Third Round – $50,000
* Fourth Round – $40,000
* Fifth Round – $35,000
* Sixth Round – $25,000
* Seventh Round – $15,000
* Eighth Round – $10,000
* Ninth Round – $2,500

## Draft order

Following a randomized order drew held at the Westin Oaks Houston on March 13, the Seattle Orcas had the first pick followed by the Washington Freedom, the MI New York, the San Francisco Unicorns, the Los Angeles Knight Riders, and the Texas Super Kings. As the draft was held in a "snake" format, the Super Kings then had the first pick in the second round, with the Orcas having the first pick again in the third.

## Draft selections

First round selections in the 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Pick | Player | Team | MiLC Team |
| 1 | Harmeet Singh | Seattle Orcas | Seattle Thunderbolts |
| 2 | Andries Gous | Washington Freedom | Seattle Thunderbolts |
| 3 | Steven Taylor | MI New York | Atlanta Fire |
| 4 | Corey Anderson | San Francisco Unicorns | Dallas Mustangs |
| 5 | Ali Khan | LA Knight Riders | Houston Hurricanes |
| 6 | Rusty Theron | Texas Super Kings | Bay Blazers |
Second round selections in the 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Pick | Player | Team | MiLC Team |
| 7 | Calvin Savage | Texas Super Kings | Chicago Tigers |
| 8 | Unmukt Chand | LA Knight Riders | Silicon Valley Strikers |
| 9 | Liam Plunkett | San Francisco Unicorns | The Philadelphians |
| 10 | Hammad Azam | MI New York | Golden State Grizzlies |
| 11 | Mukhtar Ahmed | Washington Freedom | – |
| 12 | Shehan Jayasuriya | Seattle Orcas | Silicon Valley Strikers |
Third round selections in the 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Pick | Player | Team | MiLC Team |
| 13 | Shubham Ranjane | Seattle Orcas | Seattle Thunderbolts |
| 14 | Obus Pienaar | Washington Freedom | Morrisville Raptors |
| 15 | Ehsan Adil | MI New York | Golden State Grizzlies |
| 16 | Tajinder Singh | San Francisco Unicorns | – |
| 17 | Jaskaran Malhotra | LA Knight Riders | DC Hawks |
| 18 | Lahiru Milantha | Texas Super Kings | Morrisville Raptors |
Fourth round selections in the 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Pick | Player | Team | MiLC Team |
| 19 | Milind Kumar | Texas Super Kings | The Philadelphians |
| 20 | Nitish Kumar | LA Knight Riders | Lone Star Athletics |
| 21 | Chaitanya Bishnoi | San Francisco Unicorns | – |
| 22 | Nosthush Kenjige | MI New York | Dallas Mustangs |
| 23 | Saurabh Netravalkar | Washington Freedom | Silicon Valley Strikers |
| 24 | Cameron Gannon | Seattle Orcas | – |
Fifth round selections in the 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Pick | Player | Team | MiLC Team |
| 25 | Aaron Jones | Seattle Orcas | Atlanta Fire |
| 26 | Saad Ali | Washington Freedom | Chicago Tigers |
| 27 | Monank Patel | MI New York | Empire State Titans |
| 28 | Carmi le Roux | San Francisco Unicorns | Bay Blazers |
| 29 | Corné Dry | LA Knight Riders | Atlanta Fire |
| 30 | Sami Aslam | Texas Super Kings | Golden State Grizzlies |
Sixth round selections in the 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Pick | Player | Team | MiLC Team |
| 31 | Cameron Stevenson | Texas Super Kings | – |
| 32 | Ali Sheikh | LA Knight Riders | Dallas Mustangs |
| 33 | Brody Couch | San Francisco Unicorns | – |
| 34 | Sarabjit Ladda | MI New York | DC Hawks |
| 35 | Dane Piedt | Washington Freedom | Morrisville Raptors |
| 36 | Nauman Anwar | Seattle Orcas | Michigan Cricket Stars |
Seventh round selections in the 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Pick | Player | Team | MiLC Team |
| 37 | Phani Simhadri | Seattle Orcas | Seattle Thunderbolts |
| 38 | Sujith Gowda | MI New York | Bay Blazers |
| 39 | Shayan Jahangir | Washington Freedom | Lone Star Athletics |
| 40 | David White | San Francisco Unicorns | Bay Blazers |
| 41 | Saif Badar | LA Knight Riders | – |
| 42 | Cody Chetty | Texas Super Kings | Hollywood Master Blasters |
Eighth round selections in the 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Pick | Player | Team | MiLC Team |
| 43 | Zia Shahzad | Texas Super Kings | Golden State Grizzlies |
| 44 | Shadley van Schalkwyk | LA Knight Riders | Seattle Thunderbolts |
| 45 | Smit Patel | San Francisco Unicorns | Manhattan Yorkers |
| 46 | Kyle Phillip | MI New York | Atlanta Lightning |
| 47 | Justin Dill | Washington Freedom | St. Louis Americans |
| 48 | Angelo Perera | Seattle Orcas | Bay Blazers |
Ninth round selections in the 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Pick | Player | Team | MiLC Team |
| 49 | Matthew Tromp | Seattle Orcas | Houston Hurricanes |
| 50 | Akhilesh Bodugum | Washington Freedom | Seattle Thunderbolts |
| 51 | Saideep Ganesh | MI New York | Bay Blazers |
| 52 | Sanjay Krishnamurthi | San Francisco Unicorns | Bay Blazers |
| 53 | Bhaskar Yadram | LA Knight Riders | Manhattan Yorkers |
| 54 | Saiteja Mukkamalla | Texas Super Kings | New Jersey Stallions |

## Overseas signings

During the draft, a total of 6 overseas players were announced. Among these were Aaron Finch and Marcus Stoinis, who are set to play for the San Francisco Unicorns, Mitchell Marsh and Quinton de Kock, who are set to play for the Seattle Orcas, and Wanindu Hasaranga and Anrich Nortje who are set to play for the Washington Freedom.

## Squads

These were the squads for each team following the draft.
Squads at the end of 2023 Major League Cricket players' draft :
| Seattle Orcas | Washington Freedom | MI New York | San Francisco Unicorns | LA Knight Riders | Texas Super Kings |
| Mitchell Marsh Quinton de Kock (wk) Harmeet Singh Shehan Jayasuriya Shubham Ranjane Cameron Gannon Aaron Jones Nauman Anwar Phani Simhadri Angelo Perera Matthew Tromp | Wanindu Hasaranga Anrich Nortje Andries Gous (wk) Mukhtar Ahmed Obus Pienaar Saurabh Netravalkar Saad Ali Dane Piedt Sujith Gowda Justin Dill Akhilesh Bodugum | Steven Taylor Hammad Azam Ehsan Adil Nosthush Kenjige Monank Patel Sarabjit Ladda Shayan Jahangir Kyle Phillip Saideep Ganesh | Aaron Finch (c) Marcus Stoinis Corey Anderson Liam Plunkett Tajinder Singh Chaitanya Bishnoi Carmi le Roux Brody Couch David White Smit Patel (wk) Sanjay Krishnamurthi | Ali Khan Unmukt Chand Jaskaran Malhotra Nitish Kumar Corné Dry Ali Sheikh Saif Badar Shadley van Schalkwyk Bhaskar Yadram | Rusty Theron Calvin Savage Lahiru Milantha Milind Kumar Sami Aslam Cameron Stevenson Cody Chetty Zia Shahzad Saiteja Mukkamalla |