Major League Cricket Team-by-team Guide: Freedom may not let you down

• Possible XIs and squads

• Teams ranked for batting and bowling

• Top four to play-offs

• Five domestic players in each XI

MI New York: Hard to be inspired by defending champs

2023: Winners
Batting rank: =2
Bowling rank: =4

Squad: Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult, Rashid Khan, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Kagiso Rabada, Nicholas Pooran, Steven Taylor, Ehsan Adil, Nosthush Kenjige, Monank Patel, Shayan Jahangir, Ruben Clinton, Shayan Jahangir, Heath Richards, Romario Shepherd, Rushil Ugarkar

Possible XI: Taylor, Monank, Pooran, Brevis, Jahangir, Pollard, David, Rashid Khan, Kenjige, Ehsan, Boult

Analysis: MI New York qualified in fourth having won only twice in five group games. It's hard to be inspired. Or to rule them out. That's largely down to Rashid Khan who formed a dangerous partnership with SLA Nosh Kenjige. They carry Ehsan Adil, who didn't bat last season and bowled 18 overs in seven games. Nic Pooran was top tournament runscorer.

Seattle Orcas: South Africans perhaps hold the key

2023: Runners-up
Batting rank: 1
Bowling rank: 3

Squad: Quinton de Kock, Shehan Jayasuriya, Aaron Jones, Hammad Azam, Nauman Anwar, Heinrich Klaasen, Ryan Rickleton, Wayne Parnell, Cameron Gannon, Obed McCoy, Lance Morris, Harmeet Singh, Nandre Burger, Nathan Ellis, Imad Wasim, Shubham Ranjane, Ali Sheikh, Michael Bracewell, Zaman Khan

Possible XI: De Kock, Jayasuriya, Jones, Klaasen, Ranjane, Imad/Bracewell, Parnell, Harmeet, Gannon, Ellis, Burger/Zaman

Analysis: Orcas came up just short last season, losing to New York despite posting 183 on a bat-first wicket. The South African element at it again perhaps. Their metrics were strong, although the batting was heavily reliant on Heinrich Klaasen. He may have to strike in the 190s again. Nathan Ellis has replaced AJ Tye and that is an upgrade.

Texas Super Kings: Improvement needed from Du Plessis

2023: 2nd
Batting rank: =4
Bowling rank: 1

Squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Devon Conway, Mitchell Santner, Calvin Savage, Dwayne Bravo, Milind Kumar, Cameron Stevenson, Zia Shahzad, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Mohammad Mohsin, Zia ul Haq, Joshua Tromp, Raj Nannan, Aaron Hardie, Marcus Stoinis, Aiden Markram, Naveen-ul-Haq, Gerald Coetzee, Daniel Sams, Imran Tahir

Possible XI: Du Plessis, Conway, Markram, Stoinis, Kumar, Savage, Santner/Coetzee, Stevenson, Zia-ul-Haq, Mohsin, Naveen

Analysis: Texas really struggled with getting quick runs last term. Do Aiden Markram and Marcus Stoinis solve that? Maybe the latter does on reputation but he struck at 117 for unicorns last year. They need much more from Faf Du Plessis, who was abysmal averaging 6.5 at a strike rate of 85. A decent IPL suggests he's still go it. Domestic player Mohammad Mohsin's spin was excellent last term.

Washington Freedom: Aponso spin could make huge difference

2023: 3rd
Batting rank: =4
Bowling rank: 2

Squad: Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, Rachin Ravindra, Marco Jansen, Akeal Hosein, Lockie Ferguson, Andrew Tye, Jack Edwards, Andries Gous, Mukhtar Ahmed, Obus Pienaar, Saurabh Netravalkar, Amila Aponso, Ian Holland, Justin Dill, Akhilesh Bodugum, Lahiru Milantha, Yasir Mohammad,

Possible XI: Head, Gous, Maxwell, Smith, Milantha, Pienaar, Akeal, Jansen, Ferguson/Tye, Netravalkar, Aponso/Bodugum

Analysis; Saurabh Netravalkar's excellent World Cup for USA with the ball and strong 2023 show means Freedom have the best domestic talent. They have added Travis Head, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell at the expense of Glenn Phillips and Anrich Nortje as they look to make the leap to a title winner. There are doubts, however, whether Head will be given an NOC. The key signing could be experienced Sri Lankan Amila Aponso whose spin could make a huge difference.

San Francisco Unicorns: 'Aussies' could be an all-bat side

2023: 5th
Batting rank: =2
Bowling rank: =4

Squad: Mackenzie Harvey, Matthew Wade, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Corey Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Tajinder Singh, Carmi Le Roux, Brody Couch, Josh Inglis, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Finn Allen, Haris Rauf, Matthew Short, Jahmar Hamilton, Hassan Khan, Pat Cummins, Haris Rauf, Matt Henry, Qais Ahmed, Lungi Ngidi, David White, Smit Patel

Possible XI: Fraser-McGurk, Wade, Short, Inglis, White, Anderson, Cummins, Tajinder, Plunkett, Rauf/Qais, Le Roux

Analysis: The Unicorns were a myth last term, failing to qualify. So they have reacted by signing, essentially, an Australia representative XI. In come Cummins, Inglis, Short and Fraser-McGurk. They should be a team transformed but don't be surprised if they're characterised as all bat, little brains. Liam Plunkett needs a repeat of a mean effort in 2023.

LA Knight Riders: Set for another wooden spoon?

2023: 6^th
Batting rank: 6
Bowling rank: 6

Squad: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Jason Roy, David Miller, Shakib Al Hasan, Josh Little, Spencer Johnson, Unmukt Chand, Ali Khan, Alex Carey, Waqar Salamkheil, Shadley Van Schalkwyk, Nitish Kumar, Saif Badar, Corne Dry, Derone Davis, Matthew Tromp, Adithya Ganesh

Possible XI: Narine, Chand, Carey, Miller, Nitish, Russell, Dry, Van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan, Johnson, Little

Analysis: Bottom across all metrics in MLC the franchise could be considered surprise IPL winners. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine struggled with ball and bat respectively last term in performances which suggest age was catching up with them. That proved to be wrong. The loss of Adam Zampa (nine wickets) may be significant and we're rarely enamoured with Shakib al Hasan as a new signing. The domestic crop doesn't inspire, either.

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