The 39-year-old off-spinning legend Ravichandran Ashwin has signed with the San Francisco Unicorns for the 2026 season of Major League Cricket (MLC), becoming the first India-capped player to compete in the US-based T20 franchise competition.
India’s second-highest Test wicket-taker and the seventh-highest in all of Test cricket.
No senior India-capped player had ever competed in MLC before March 28, 2026.
With cricket returning to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 after a 128-year absence, US cricket is in a critical window of growth, and Ashwin’s signing is the single biggest statement yet that the world’s top players now see America as a serious destination.
Ashwin’s career- the numbers behind the legend
To understand why this signing is generating global buzz, you need to understand what Ashwin achieved in his international career before retiring from the Indian team in December 2024 and from the IPL after the 2025 season.
- 765 international wickets across all formats in 287 matches.
- 537 Test wickets in 106 matches — the seventh-highest in Test cricket history, and second among Indians behind Anil Kumble’s 619.
- Six Test centuries — making him a genuine allrounder, not merely a bowling specialist.
- 65 T20 international appearances for India, with deep experience reading batters and constructing spells in the format he will now play in MLC.
- Two ICC trophies — a member of India’s 2011 ODI World Cup squad and the 2013 Champions Trophy winning side.
- 187 IPL wickets in 221 matches — placing him among the top five wicket-takers in IPL history across stints with Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiants, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, and Delhi Capitals.
Why Ashwin chose MLC and America
Ashwin’s path to MLC was not straightforward. He had previously signed with Sydney Thunder for the 2025–26 Big Bash League season in Australia, but a knee injury requiring surgery ruled him out before he could debut. With the injury behind him, he was free to explore other leagues — and what he found during a recent exhibition match in the Dallas–Fort Worth area made his decision clear.
San Francisco Unicorns: squad, season & title ambitions
The San Francisco Unicorns have never won the MLC title. Their best result was a runners-up finish in the 2024 final, where they lost to the Washington Freedom. Ashwin arrives as the statement signing around which a competitive squad has been assembled, with the explicit goal of ending that drought in 2026.
Head coach Cameron White — the former Australian allrounder — has retained a strong overseas core including captain Matt Short, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett, Finn Allen, and Haris Rauf. Domestic depth comes from Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Hassan Khan, Brody Couch, Juanoy Drysdale, and Hammad Azam.
MLC 2026: schedule, teams & what’s new this season
- Major League Cricket Season 4 runs from June 18 to July 18, 2026, featuring all six franchises across 34 matches.
- Three venues host the action: Grand Prairie Stadium (near Dallas, Texas), the Oakland Coliseum, and the newly added Knight Riders Cricket Field at Fairplex in Pomona, California — replacing Broward County Stadium in Florida.
- MI New York enter as defending champions, having won the 2025 MLC title by five runs over Washington Freedom.
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