Follow UsTravis Head, Steven Smith, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada and David Miller were the big names missing from the retention lists, which the franchises named ahead of the Major League Cricket (MLC) draft scheduled for February 19.
Washington Freedom, who won the last season, retained as many as 15 players. However, the franchise released Head, Smith, Akeal Hosein, and Andrew Tye. Meanwhile, San Francisco Unicorns, who came second, also retained most of their core, including the out of rhythm Jake Fraser-McGurk and Fin Allen. They left out Cummins, Matt Henry and Josh Inglis.
The Seattle Orcas followed a different strategy and retained just seven players, leaving out the likes of Quinton de Kock and Michael Bracewell, among others. They retained only two overseas batters — Heinrich Klaasen and Ryan Rickleton.
The inaugural edition winner, MI New York, retained Keiron Pollard, Trent Boult, Nicholas Pooran, and Rashid Khan.
The LA Knight Riders, meanwhile, released Miller, Shakib Al Hasan, Jason Roy and Adam Zampa.
MI Retention list:
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
