Major League Cricket Team-by-Team Guide: Orcas can make a splash

• Washington Freedom the holders

• Orcas have recruited well to transform chances

• Our cricket beting expert on the strengths and weaknesses of every team

• Batting and bowling power rankings

• Key men and bet strategies for each team

LA Knight Riders

2024 finish: 5th
Batting rank: 4
Bowling rank: 3
Key man: Rovman Powell could do incredible damage at the death
One to watch: Unmukt Chand a good in-play short on runs

Squad: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Jason Holder, Alex Hales, Rovman Powell, Andre Fletcher, Sherfane Rutherford, Nitish Kumar, Said Badar, Unmukt Chand, Adithiya Ganesh, Corne Dry, Anrich Nortje, Ali Khan, Tanveer Sangha, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Karthik Gattepalli, Matthew Tromp.

Possible XI: Narine, Hales, Chand, Kumar, Rutherford, Powell, Russell, Tromp, Dry, van Shalkwyk, Nortje

Analysis: This is a Windies representative XI. Whether that's a good thing or not remains to be seen. A West Indies T20 series versus Ireland may mean a weakened team early on. Only two wins in seven meant they missed the play-off. With three wins potentially required a major uptick isn't out of the question.  Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford are a potentially explosive pairing with the bat. They need more from Andre Russell. They need Anrich Nortje to stay fit. It should probably be noted that political unrest in LA is unlikely to have an impact on player availability because Knight Riders won't be based in the city. 

MI New York

2024 finish: 4th
Batting rank: 5
Bowling rank: 3
Key man: MI go deep if Rashid Khan finds his form 
One to watch: Bracewell and Linde for big top-bat prices

Squad:  Kieron Pollard, Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Rashid Khan, Monak Patel, Heath Richards, Sharad Lumba, Agni Chopra, Kumwarjit Singh, Trent Boult, Ehsan Adil, Nosthush Kenjige, Naveen ul Haq, Rushil Ugarkar, Michael Bracewell, George Linde, Sunny Patel, Tajinder Singh.

Possible XI: De Kock, Monank, Pooran, Richards, Pollard, Bracewell, Linde, Tajinder, Boult, Kenjige, Adil

Analysis: MI New York finished fourth last season despite just two wins. Few might be rushing to get with them this time around. Trent Boult and  Nic Pooran aside and the option of either George Linde or Michael Bracewell, there are holes in this line-up. Quinton de Kock is on the wane, Rashid Khan has opted out and Kieron Pollard is not the force of old.   They desperately need to see an uptick in batting power and they do have the players to do it. 

San Francisco Unicorns

2024 finish: Runners-up
Batting rank: 2
Bowling rank: 6
Key man: Hassan Khan. The USA bat finished 7th on the runs list
One to watch: Jake Fraser-McGurk desperately needs a good tournament. Shorting runs with pressure on an early play

Squad: Corey Anderson, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Haris Rauf, Liam Plunkett, Jack Fraser-McGurk, Karima Gore, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Xavier Bartlett, Brody Couch, Callum Stow, Carmi le Roux, Juanoy Drysdale, Matthew Short, Hassan Khan, Cooper Connolly, ROmario Shepherd

Possible XI: Allen, Fraser-McGurk, Short, Krishnamurthi, Seifert, Shepherd, Hassan, Anderson, Rauf, le Roux, Drysdale

Analysis: Unicorns do exist. This lot look a well-balanced outfit. They have five strong USA players, one them in Corey Anderson who is their captain. Liam Plunkett, well past his best at 40, is not one of them. And a front five which could blitz teams. There is often one team which espouses batting power of everything else and this could be it. Just like last term in fact when they were the most expensive bowling group. A play-off should be well within their grasp. At some stage they may sacrifice Cooper Connolly for extra pace in Xavier Bartlett. That might make all the difference as they aim to go one better. 

Texas Super Kings

2024 finish: 3rd
Batting rank: 3
Bowling rank: 3
Key man: Marcus Stoinis. Overdue a MoM win
One to watch: Adam Milne should be a consistent top bowler winner

Squad: Faf du Plessis (C), Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Milne, Calvin Savage, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Joshua Tromp, Adam Khan, Noor Ahmad, Zia ul Haq Muhammad, Milind Kumar, Mohammad Mohsin, Shubham Ranjane

Possible XI: Du Plessis, Conway, Mitchell, Kumar, Stoinis, Tromp, Mohsin, Savage, Milne, Noor,  Zia-ul-Haq

Analysis: Texas finished third last season with three wins. It would not be a surprise if they struggled to make the top four. The top three are on the wane and Daryl Mitchell a strange pick-up. Marcus Stoinis, Noor Ahmad, who had a terrific IPL, and Adam Milne, the Kiwi pacer, may have to do a lot of heavy lifting. We don't expect Milne to be named in the t20 squad for a tri-series in Zimbabwe also involving South Africa.

Seattle Orcas

2024 finish: 6
Batting rank: 6
Bowling rank: 5
Key man: Warner to pick up at least three top-bat wins in a play-off season
One to watch: : Usama 33 (24)

Squad:  David Warner, Shimron Hetmyer, Heinrich Klaasen, Kyle Mayers, Sikandar Raza, Obed McCoy, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Waqar Salamkheli, Steven Taylor, Aaron Jones, Shsyan Jahangir, Sujit Nayak, Rahul Jariwala, Cameron Gannon, Jasdeep Singh, Ayan Desai, Gulbadin Naib, Harmeet Singh, Ali Sheikh.

Possible XI: Warner, Taylor, Jones, Klaasen, Hetmyer, Raza, Ranjane, Harmeet, Gannon, Salamkheil, Farooqi

Analysis: Orcas are not a team to write off. David Warner has a knack of bringing dispirit teams together with decent cracks by Thunder and Karachi Kings in the most recent  Bash and PSL. Getting Heinrich Klaasen in as soon as possible will be key and although Steven Taylor and Aaron Jones are solid domestic players, it will cause a problem if they chew up deliveries. Cameron Gannon was the fourth highest wicket-taker last term and he forms a formidable partnership with Faz Farooqi. The recruitment drive was much needed after terrible metrics and they are now more than competitive. There is an asterisk by Siknadar Raza's name in case he is named in Zimbabwe's squad for a T20 tri-series.

Washington Freedom

2024 finish: Winners
Batting rank: 1
Bowling rank: 2
Key man: Saurabh Netravalkar 
One to watch: Steve Smith could be winning top bats at even money rate

Squad: Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Rachin Ravindra, Lockie Ferguson, Mark Chapman, Glen Phillips, Mukhtar Ahmed, Lahiru Milantha, Andries Gous, Ben Sears, Jason Behrendorff, Saurabh Netravalkar, Yasir Mohammad, Amila Aponso, Abhishek Paradkar, Justin Dill, Obus Pienaar, Jack Edwards, Ian Holland, Mitchell Owen

Possible XI: Smith, Gous, Mukhtar, Chapman, Phillips, Owen, Pienaar, Dill, Ferguson, Netravalkar, Behrendorff

Analysis: ZBy far the best team in the tournament last season. And they will be hard to stop. A play-off looks assured. Steve Smith, although not a T20 player, should dominate at this class. in the bash, a cut above this league, he is frighteningly good. They also boast the best USA domestic player in Saurabh Netravalkar. Andries Gous is dangerous with the bat, too. it is crucial to have high-end domestic performers and freedom probably have the best two. A Freedom-Orcas final looks on the cards.

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