New Delhi, Feb 15 (IANS): Ahead of the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 draft, the six franchises announced their retained players as Travis Head, Steve Smith, Kagiso Rabada and David Miller were among the big names to miss out on the upcoming edition of the tournament.
Reigning champions Washington Freedom kept their squad intact by retaining 15 of their players which was also the most among six franchises. However, they parted ways with Head, who was their joint-highest scorer last season alongside captain Steven Smith. Akeal Hosein and Andrew Tye were also released by Freedom.
The 2024 runners-up San Francisco Unicorns also kept most of their core intact, including their explosive opening pair of Finn Allen and Jake Fraser-McGurk. However, they released Pat Cummins, Matt Henry and Josh Inglis among others.
Seattle Orcas, with the least retained players (seven), are set to undergo the biggest squad overhaul. They kept just two overseas players, the South African duo of Heinrich Klaasen and Ryan Rickelton, the latter of whom has had a successful international run since the last MLC season. Among the overseas players released were Quinton de Kock, Michael Bracewell, Obed McCoy and Nandre Burger.
LA Knight Riders, having retained only three overseas players - Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Australian pacer Spencer Johnson- face a similar challenge. They released Miller, Jason Roy, Shakib Al Hasan, and Adam Zampa.
MI New York, who claimed the inaugural MLC title, have retained Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult, Nicholas Pooran and Rashid Khan, but let go of the South African pace duo of Rabada and Anrich Nortje, along with Tim David and Dewald Brevis.
Texas Super Kings have retained Faf du Plessis and Devon Conway at the top of their order for the new season. They have also kept all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and Afghan left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad. Among the players released are Mitchell Santner, Matheesha Mathirana, Daryl Mitchell and Naveen-ul-Haq.
Some notable domestic players not retained include MI New York's Steven Taylor, Seattle Orcas' Shehan Jayasuriya, and Washington Freedom's Jasdeep Singh.
List of players retained for MLC 2025
LA Knight Riders: Ali Khan, Adithya Ganesh, Unmukt Chand, Nitish Kumar, Corne Dry, Saif Badar, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Matthew Tromp, Spencer Johnson, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine.
MI New York: Ehsan Adil, Nosthush Kenjige, Monank Patel, Heath Richards, Rushil Ugarkar, Sunny Patel, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan, Trent Boult.
San Francisco Unicorns: Corey Anderson, Hassan Khan, Liam Plunkett, Carmi Le Roux, Brody Couch, Karima Gore, Juanoy Drysdale, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Haris Rauf, Finn Allen, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matthew Short.
Seattle Orcas: Harmeet Singh, Cameron Gannon, Ali Sheikh, Ayan Desai, Aaron Jones, Heinrich Klaasen, Ryan Rickelton.
Texas Super Kings: Joshua Tromp, Calvin Savage, Milind Kumar, Mohammad Mohsin, Zia-ul-Haq, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Faf du Plessis, Devon Conway, Noor Ahmad, Marcus Stoinis.
Washington Freedom: Andries Gous, Mukhtar Ahmed, Obus Pienaar, Saurabh Netravalkar, Ian Holland, Amila Aponso, Justin Dill, Lahiru Milantha, Yasir Mohammad, Marco Jansen, Glenn Maxwell, Lockie Ferguson, Rachin Ravindra, Steven Smith, Jack Edwards.