LA Knight Riders bank on West Indian muscle to break playoffs drought

How did they fare last season: Group Stage

Across two MLC seasons, Los Angeles Knight Riders remain the only team to not have qualified for the playoffs. Despite the star wattage garnered by captain Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, two of the Knight Riders family's most iconic cricketers, LAKR's two previous campaigns have been anything but luminous as they finished last in the first season and only slightly lifting themselves off the bottom in the second.

Narine, while being clinical with the ball with an economy rate of 6.2, was a shadow of himself with the bat, scoring 27 runs in 6 innings. His underwhelming returns at the top of the order proved particularly detrimental for the LAKR batting unit. Russell largely remained underutilised throughout the tournament. Coming in at number 7, the Jamaican allrounder hardly found time to make an impact on the game, ending up playing 80 deliveries in 6 innings.

As a fair reflection of their batting woes, none of their batters featured in the top 10 run-getters' tally of the tournament. Unmukt Chand proved to be the only silver lining of the batting unit, as the 32-year-old starred with a couple of match-winning half-centuries. Ali Khan made an explosive start to the tournament with a match-defining four-wicket haul against the Texas Super Kings, but faded away as the tournament progressed and only added a solitary wicket next to his name at the end of it all.

International Contingent:

LAKR have overhauled their squad with four more West Indians apart from Narine and Russell. The inclusion of former Windies captains Jason Holder and Rovman Powell adds further strength to LAKR's already well-stocked pool of all-rounders. Sherfane Rutherford and Andre Fletcher are set to make their MLC debuts with LAKR to bolster their batting. Along with England discard Alex Hales, a handful of Englishmen will make a dash stateside at the height of the English cricket summer. Anrich Nortje will spearhead the pace attack in the absence of Aussie left-arm quick Spencer Johsnon, who emerged as LAKR's highest wicket taker last season. The Knight Riders also snapped Tanveer Sangha after the young leggie warmed the bench for Washington Freedom last year.

Domestic Cadre:

Unlike their international roster this year, LAKR have predominantly retained their domestic cadre for the 2025 season. They drafted in TNPL wicketkeeper batsman Adithya Ganesh as their primary pick at USD 75,000 at the 2024 domestic draft, but the 33-year-old remained conspicuously absent from the playing eleven all tournament. Unmukt Chand, Saif Badar and USA batter Nitish Kumar form the rest of the domestic batting unit. The patience shown toward Kumar may be wearing thin, with the batter yet to produce a meaningful knock after two lean seasons. Chand would especially look to prove a point or two after being overlooked for a home world cup, in what was fantasised as a great redemption story. USA quicks Ali Khan and Shadley Van Schalkwyk, along with Corne Dry bring definite calibre to LAKR's domestic bowling reserves.

Captain: Sunil Narine

Coach: Phil Simmons

Probable XI: Alex Hales, Unmukt Chand, Nitish Kumar, Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russel, Saif Badar, Sunil Narine, Corne Dry, Ali Khan, Anrich Nortje, Tanveer Sangha