Captain: Steve Smith
Coach: Ricky Ponting
How far did they go last season: Knockouts
Washington Freedom went down to the Seattle Orcas in their first ever game at the MLC. But the franchise was quick to dust off the initial set back, going on a three-game winning spree on the back of some individual brilliance from Aussie import Matthew Short and locals Saurabh Netravalkar and Adries Gous. While the T20 World Cup may have made Netravalkar a household name, it was that spell from hell (6 for 9) against the San Francisco Unicorns that put the initial spotlight on him.
The Freedom’s defiant run was arrested by MI New York in the final game of the league as the eventual champions snuck in to stage a rematch in the eliminator, knocking out Freedom after being on the mat in the first innings. Despite the absence of some marquee T20 players, the fledgling franchise punched above its weight to qualify for the final 4, eclipsing American offshoots of legacy IPL franchises.
International Contingent
Freedom employed some excellent utility T20 international cricketers in their mix with captain Moises Henriques, Matthew Short and Glenn Phillips in the inaugural season. In a total revamp, the franchise sought some box office cricketers after the high profile signing of Ricky Ponting as the head coach. Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head bring in some stardust to the Freedom batting along with young Kiwi sensation Rachin Ravindra. Freedom further bolstered their pace battery with the induction of T20 specialists Lockie Ferguson and Andrew Tye. Akeal Hosein and Marco Jansen remain the only internationals to come back to the Freedom fold for the second season.
Domestic Cadre:
Netravalkar and Gous emerged as the breakout stars for USA in their historic World Cup campaign that saw them through to the Super 8s. While Gous impressed in patches with a couple of destructive innings, Netravalkar outshined his international peers by topping the wickets and the economy rate tally. Hard hitting batter and left arm spinner Obus Pienaar has been retained after impactful cameos in the previous season. Freedom further bestowed faith on former Pakistan batter Mukhtar Ahmed despite poor returns of 13 runs per game at the top of order in 2023.
Freedom drafted in American-born Hampshire all rounder Ian Holland, who last represented USA in 2022. They further secured the services of former Sri Lanka spinner Amila Aponso and pugnacious wicket keeper batter Lahiru Milantha. Twenty-one year-old Yasir Mohammad, one of the USA reserves at the World Cup, remains the only wrist spinning option in the squad.
Probable XI : Andries Gous, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Maxwell, Obus Pienaar, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Saurabh Netravalkar, Amila Aponso, Yasir Mohammad