Travis Head, Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, and David Miller were among the key players missing when Major League Cricket franchises announced their alliances before the draft on February 19.

Six franchises of Major League Cricket have announced their player associations prior to the draft on February 19. Defending champion Washington Freedom has kept 15 players from last season, the most among the six teams. But they surprisingly cut last season's joint top scorer Travis Head and captain Steven Smith.

The Freedom also released West Indies' Akeal Hossein and Australia's Andrew Tye. Conversely, the Seattle Orcas, who ended last season at the bottom with just one win in seven games, are significantly rebuilding their squads as they retained the least number of players. Seattle Orcas, who retained just seven players - the fewest among the six teams - will undergo the biggest roster shakeup.

List of Players Retained for MLC 2025

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.