This summer, a University of Texas at Dallas undergraduate will have an opportunity to play alongside some of his idols as a professional in the world’s second-most popular sport.
Accounting junior Ali Sheikh was drafted onto one of six teams for the inaugural season of Major League Cricket, which will debut July 13 in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
For Sheikh, it is an unprecedented chance to play against world-renowned competition so close to home. While the sport has yet to take off in the U.S., it boasts an estimated 2.5 billion followers worldwide, primarily in Asia, Australia and the U.K.
“The craziest thing to me is that there are players I’ve watched growing up, and now I’ll be playing alongside them and against them,” Sheikh said. “It’s a really big deal, looking up to them and idolizing them, and now getting a chance to share the locker room with them.”
“At UT Dallas, there’s such a large Asian community — from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh — a lot of people already know cricket and want to play and learn the game. In the next couple of years, hopefully it will take off.”
Ali Sheikh
Sheikh was born in Qatar and lived there for about 12 years before moving to the U.S. in 2015. His family is originally from Pakistan, and Sheikh said he started playing cricket because of his father’s fandom.
“I began playing around the age of 7 or 8. In 2015, I joined a local academy here in Dallas,” he said. “I’ve made my way up, and last year, I was named captain of the USA Under-19 Cricket Team.”
Sheikh graduated from Lebanon Trail High School in Frisco, Texas, in 2020. That same year, he was chosen for the USA senior team for the first time for a match against Ireland in Florida, though he did not play in the game.
“I started off at UT Dallas as undeclared for two years; last year, I chose to be an accounting major,” he said. “For now, I’m looking to get my undergraduate degree in accounting and work on getting internships, then a full-time job. But my main focus is cricket.”
Sheikh said he has balanced academics with his burgeoning cricket career with some help from the UT Dallas faculty.
“My professors have been very accommodating of when I’m traveling for tournaments and need to do assignments online or need extra time,” he said.
America’s New Professional Cricket League
Major League Cricket’s inaugural season will be played primarily in the newly converted, 7,200-seat, dedicated world-class cricketing facility at Grand Prairie Stadium (formerly AirHogs Stadium). Six teams from major metropolitan areas — representing Texas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Seattle and New York — will each boast multiple global stars on their rosters alongside the best talent from the U.S.
In March, Sheikh was drafted in the sixth round by the Los Angeles Knight Riders, a franchise majority owned by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who is also part owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders franchise in the Indian Premier League.
“There are nine elite international signings for each of the six teams, and nine domestic players,” Sheikh said. “So, 54 of the best players in the country will play alongside 54 of the best players from across the world. The standard of play will be really high.
“Anyone curious should come out and watch. Most of the matches will be under the lights on weeknights. I feel like it would be a fun and unique experience for newcomers, and it’s so close by.”
UTD Memories
Cricket has common origins with baseball, with which it shares its bat-and-ball basis. One crucial difference is that a bowled ball in cricket must bounce well in front of the batter to be legal. Like baseball, a fly ball caught by a fielder results in an out, while a batted ball that escapes the field’s boundaries is worth either four or six runs, depending on if it has bounced before leaving. A match in the league’s abbreviated Twenty20 format lasts about three hours.
“The sport is growing a lot here, and the international players are just now realizing how big U.S. cricket is,” said Sheikh, who is primarily a bowler, specifically a left-arm spinner. “People living here are starting to catch on, too. At UT Dallas, there’s such a large Asian community — from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh — a lot of people already know cricket and want to play and learn the game. In the next couple of years, hopefully it will take off.”
In the long term, Sheikh aspires to a decorated professional cricket career, and among his new Knight Riders teammates are several examples to follow, including current England national team player Jason Roy and New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson.
“My main priority is to play in the U.S.,” Sheikh said, “but there are opportunities in leagues across the world. It’s just about performing at the right time and having good connections.”