Our Bureau
Seattle
Microsoft’s Indian American chief CEO Satya Nadella has formed a new professional cricket team in partnership with Delhi Capitals’ co-owner GMR Group. The team will compete in Major League Cricket (MLC), a new T20 franchise league in the USA. MLC will start in July in USA. The team represents the Greater Seattle area, in the Pacific Northwest.
The Seattle Orcas will join teams representing Texas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC, playing the T20 format of the game starting July 13, with the 2023 MLC championship final set for July 30.
The team unveiled its logo and team name on Thursday, which is dedicated to the Pacific Northwest’s Orcas, considered a symbol of power and strength, featuring the black and white colors of the highly intelligent and collaborative marine mammals. The new league will bring some of the world’s top players to compete in a sport that boasts millions of fans in the United States and is the second most watched sport globally with more than 2 billion followers.
The Seattle Orcas announced that the team has partnered with one of the top T20 cricket franchises, the Delhi Capitals – a leading franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), to help build its roster for the inaugural season. Delhi Capitals’ co-owner GMR Group will partners Seattle Orcas to help build and operate a world-class cricket team.
“We are super excited to bring world-class cricket to the Pacific Northwest, which has a vibrant and passionate community of cricket and sports fans. The Orcas name and the team’s colors pay tribute to our local community that has helped build that spirit of support,” said Soma Somasegar. “We are thrilled to partner with the Delhi Capitals’ Co-Owner GMR Group to help us launch with the strongest possible team this summer.”
The Seattle Orcas’ lead investor group includes Nadella, Soma Somasegar (Managing Director of Madrona Ventures), Samir Bodas (Co-founder and CEO, Icertis), Ashok Krishnamurthi (Managing Partner, GreatPoint Ventures) and Sanjay Parthasarathy (former senior executive at Microsoft and Avalara).
“We see America as the new frontier for cricket’s growth globally, and the Pacific Northwest provides an incredible opportunity for us to bring the resources of GMR Sports to the region and help the Seattle Orcas build a team competing for championships,” said Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Managing Director and CEO of GMR Group, a Co-Owner of Delhi Capitals.
