The stage is set for the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 draft as teams finalize their retentions and releases. This year’s roster shuffle has seen some major international stars, including Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Steve Smith, Kagiso Rabada, and David Miller, being left out of the upcoming edition. With franchises aiming for strategic changes, here’s a comprehensive look at the biggest player movements ahead of MLC 2025.
Major Releases by Teams
Several teams have made surprising cuts ahead of the new season. Here are the most notable releases:
- Washington Freedom released Travis Head, who was their joint-highest scorer in MLC 2024, along with Steve Smith. Akeal Hosein and Andrew Tye were also let go.
- San Francisco Unicorns parted ways with big names like Pat Cummins, Matt Henry, and Josh Inglis despite retaining most of their core squad.
- Seattle Orcas, with the fewest retentions (seven players), let go of key players such as Quinton de Kock, Michael Bracewell, and Obed McCoy.
- LA Knight Riders released David Miller, Jason Roy, Shakib Al Hasan, and Adam Zampa, keeping only three overseas players.
- MI New York, the inaugural MLC champions, dropped South African pacers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, along with Tim David and Dewald Brevis.
- Texas Super Kings decided not to retain Mitchell Santner, Daryl Mitchell, and Naveen-ul-Haq while securing their core.
MLC 2025 Retentions and Releases
Here is a detailed breakdown of each franchise’s retentions and released players:
LA Knight Riders (LAKR)
| Retained Players | Released Players |
|---|---|
| Ali Khan | David Miller |
| Adithya Ganesh | Jason Roy |
| Unmukt Chand | Shakib Al Hasan |
| Nitish Kumar | Adam Zampa |
| Corne Dry | Alex Carey |
| Saif Badar | Derone Davis |
| Shadley van Schalkwyk | Josh Little |
| Matthew Tromp | Waqar Salamkheil |
| Spencer Johnson | |
| Andre Russell | |
| Sunil Narine |
MI New York (MINY)
| Retained Players | Released Players |
|---|---|
| Ehsan Adil | Dewald Brevis |
| Nosthush Kenjige | Steven Taylor |
| Monank Patel | Tim David |
| Heath Richards | Romario Shepherd |
| Rushil Ugarkar | Ruben Clinton |
| Sunny Patel | Shayan Jahangir |
| Kieron Pollard | Anrich Nortje |
| Nicholas Pooran | Kagiso Rabada |
| Rashid Khan | |
| Trent Boult |
San Francisco Unicorns (SFU)
| Retained Players | Released Players |
|---|---|
| Corey Anderson | Sherfane Rutherford |
| Hassan Khan | Tajinder Singh |
| Liam Plunkett | Wiaan Mulder |
| Carmi Le Roux | Jahmar Hamilton |
| Brody Couch | Josh Inglis |
| Karima Gore | Abrar Ahmed |
| Juanoy Drysdale | Matt Henry |
| Sanjay Krishnamurthi | Pat Cummins |
| Haris Rauf | |
| Finn Allen | |
| Jake Fraser-McGurk | |
| Matthew Short |
Seattle Orcas (SEO)
| Retained Players | Released Players |
|---|---|
| Harmeet Singh | Hammad Azam |
| Cameron Gannon | Nauman Anwar |
| Ali Sheikh | Shubham Ranjane |
| Ayan Desai | Imad Wasim |
| Aaron Jones | Keemo Paul |
| Heinrich Klaasen | Michael Bracewell |
| Ryan Rickelton | Quinton de Kock |
| Lungi Ngidi | |
| Nandre Burger | |
| Zaman Khan |
Texas Super Kings (TSK)
| Retained Players | Released Players |
|---|---|
| Joshua Tromp | Aaron Hardie |
| Calvin Savage | Aiden Markram |
| Milind Kumar | Dwayne Bravo |
| Mohammad Mohsin | Mitchell Santner |
| Zia-ul-Haq | Raj Nannan |
| Saiteja Mukkamalla | Zia Shahzad |
| Faf du Plessis | Naveen-ul-Haq |
| Devon Conway | Ottneil Baartman |
| Noor Ahmad | |
| Marcus Stoinis |
Washington Freedom (WAF)
| Retained Players | Released Players |
|---|---|
| Andries Gous | Travis Head |
| Mukhtar Ahmed | Akeal Hosein |
| Obus Pienaar | Akhilesh Reddy |
| Saurabh Netravalkar | Andrew Tye |
| Ian Holland | Jasdeep Singh |
| Amila Aponso | |
| Justin Dill | |
| Lahiru Milantha | |
| Yasir Mohammad | |
| Marco Jansen | |
| Glenn Maxwell | |
| Lockie Ferguson | |
| Rachin Ravindra | |
| Steven Smith | |
| Jack Edwards |
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