| Chicago Kingsmen | |
| League: | Minor League Cricket |
| Conference: | Central Division (Pacific Conference) |
| Colours: | Dark Blue, and Burgundy. |
| Coach: | Aamir Saddique |
| Captain: | Fawad Alam |
| City: | Chicago, Illinois |
| Owner: | Kingsmen Global Sports Group[1] |
| Ground: | Kingsmen Stadium |
| T Title: | T20 kit |
| T Pattern La: | _blueborder |
| T Pattern Ra: | _blueborder |
| T Leftarm: | 00008B |
| T Body: | FFFF00 |
| T Rightarm: | 00008B |
| T Pants: | 00008B |
The Chicago Kingsmen (formerly the Chicago Blasters) are an American professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that compete in Minor League Cricket (MiLC). The team is based in Chicago, Illinois. It was formed in 2020 as part of 24 original teams to compete in Minor League Cricket.[2] The franchise was owned by Iftekhar Shareef until the team's acquisition by Fawad Sarwar of the Kingsmen Global Sports Group. The franchise is currently run by Salman Abbasi and Mohammad Iqra Farooqui,[3] with Khurram Syed also associated.[4]
The team's home ground is Kingsmen Stadium, located in Illinois. Pakistan international Fawad Alam helms captaincy duties, while former Pakistani cricketer Saad Ali stands by as vice-captain.[5]
Talks of an American Twenty20 league started in November 2018 just before USA Cricket became the new governing body of cricket in the United States.[6] [7] In May 2021, USA Cricket announced they had accepted a bid by American Cricket Enterprises (ACE) for a US$1 billion investment covering the league and other investments benefitting the U.S. national teams.[8]
In an Annual General Meeting on February 21, 2020, it was announced that USA Cricket was planning to launch Major League Cricket in 2021 and Minor League Cricket that summer,[9] but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic[10] and due to the lack of high-quality cricket stadiums in the USA.[11] Major League Cricket was pushed to a summer-2023 launch[12] and Minor League Cricket was pushed back to July 31, 2021.[13]
USA Cricket CEO Iain Higgins also pointed out cities such as New York City, Houston and Los Angeles with a large cricket fanbase, and targeted them among others as launch cities for Minor League Cricket.[14]
In July 2020, the player registration for the Minor League Cricket exhibition league began.[15] On August 15, 2020, USA Cricket announced the teams participating in the exhibition league matches, also listing the owners for each team.[16] The draft for the exhibition league began on August 22, 2020,[17] with the Chicago Blasters releasing their squad on September 12.[18] Ibrahim Khaleel was later named as captain for the Blasters, with Fahad Babar down for vice-captaincy duties for the exhibition league.[19] [20]
After the conclusion of the exhibition league, USA Cricket announced that they were planning to launch the inaugural season of Minor League Cricket in spring 2021.[21] Ahead of the official season, which was announced to kick off on July 31,[22] the Blasters announced Fahad Babar as captain with Abul Hasan helming vice-captain duties.
Throughout the group stage, the Blasters won against the Athletics once, the Catchers twice, and the Americans once.[23] [24] However, the Blasters lost once against the Strikers, the Grizzlies and the Americans, while losing twice to the Mustangs, the Hurricanes, and the Stars.[25] [26] The Blasters finished 6th in their group, thus not advancing to the play-offs.
Ahead of the 2022 season, Major League Cricket announced that the draft for that season would take place on May 12.[27] Ahead of the official season, it was announced that the captaincy role would be shifted from Khaleel to local Blasters cricketer Ashhar Medhi, with Babar once again given vice-captaincy duties.[28]
Throughout the season, the Blasters lost to the Tigers, Hurricanes, and the Stars twice, and lost to the Blazers, the Blasters, the Grizzlies, the Mustangs, and the Americans once.[29] [30] The Blasters finished last in their group, despite three of their games being washed out.[31]
| Name | Nationality | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Year signed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsmen | ||||||
| Awais Zia | 1 September 1986 | Left-handed | 2022 | Overseas | ||
| Homayoon Ahmadzai | 18 July 1993 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | ||
| Shreyas Ramesh | 12 November 1988 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2022 | ||
| Jay Patel | 30 January 1996 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 2022 | ||
| Najam Iqbal | 10 August 1988 | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | ||
| All-rounders | ||||||
| Abul Hasan | 5 August 1992 | Left-handed | 2021 | Overseas | ||
| Mohit Patel | 29 May 2003 | Right-handed | 2022 | |||
| Abdullah Quadri | 15 July 2000 | Right-handed | 2022 | |||
| Pankaj Kampli | 22 June 1983 | Right-handed | 2021 | |||
| Chiranjeevi Akunuri | 16 June 1993 | Right-handed | 2022 | |||
| Fahad Babar | 19 February 1992 | Right-handed | 2021 | Vice-captain | ||
| Ankush Agrawal | 21 February 1990 | Right-handed | 2022 | |||
| Datta Prakash Y | 27 February 1992 | Left-handed | 2021 | |||
| Abir Chippa | 11 August 1987 | Right-handed | 2022 | |||
| Arjun Reddy | 26 April 2004 | Right-handed | 2022 | |||
| Bowlers | ||||||
| 15 May 1987 | Right-handed | 2022 | ||||
| 27 January 1990 | Left-handed | 2022 | ||||
| 11 December 1994 | Right-handed | 2022 | ||||
| Kevin Philip | 1 February 2006 | Right-handed | 2022 | |||
| Sai Daggupati | 21 May 1995 | Right-handed | 2022 | |||
| Wicket-keepers | ||||||
| Aayush Thakkar | 17 July 2004 | Right-handed | 2022 | |||
| Shaheer Hassan | 23 February 1994 | Right-handed | 2021 | |||
| Ashhar Mehdi | 13 September 1975 | Right-handed | 2021 | Captain | ||