Best 11 of MLC 2024 ft. Travis Head and Rashid Khan
The second season of Major League Cricket (2024) got done on Sunday evening (July 28) in the USA as Washington Freedom trounced San Francisco Unicorns by 96 runs. The second edition of the tournament was bigger and better.
It involved more star players from around the world, and we saw the local USA players close the gap in the quality between them, and the Australians and New Zealanders.
Below, we have picked a best 11 out of all six teams, keeping in mind the six overseas and five local rule, and a 12th player too. Check it out here:
Top-order: Faf du Plessis, Steven Smith and Travis Head
Picking the top three is the most difficult task in this 11. The top three teams had six of the best opening combinations that one can ask for in a T20I team.
We have gone with the two highest run-scorers as the openers. Texas Super Kings captain Faf du Plessis put in a mega shift, scoring 420 runs in eight innings at an average of 52.50, scoring three fifties and a century.
He was followed by Freedom captain Steven Smith's 336 runs from nine innings. Although he wasn't the quickest in terms of strike rate, he played a few outright match-winning knocks, including the 88 (52) in the final.
Du Plessis often played the aggressor for the Super Kings. He will complement Smith's stability.
Travis Head will take number three in this team, although it can be exchanged with the openers depending on the situation. It's impossible to leave Head out of this 11, thanks to his five half-centuries and regular match-winning starts. His innings in the first Qualifier against the Unicorns was one of the best in the tournament.
Middle order: Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Nicholas Pooran and Hassan Khan
One reason behind the Unicorns' success in this tournament was their USA local core. Sanjay Krishnamurthi and Hassan Khan were superb with both the bat and the ball.
The latter's 204 runs were the highest in the tournament for a local player and he was followed by Krishnamurthy's 169. While Krishnamurthy had a couple of good knocks, Hassan performed throughout the season, looking a level above the other locals in the league.
The Karachi-born player was also superb with the ball, taking 10 crucial wickets in nine matches at one of the best economy rates in the tournament, despite bowling mostly in the second half of the innings.
MI Cape Town's Nicholas Pooran can be sandwiched between them to provide experience and strike-rotation. He'll manage the gloves and form an excellent four-five-six of spin-hitters alongside the locals.
His team didn't have a great tournament but he managed 180 runs in seven innings, which was one of the best for middle-order batters.
Lower-order: Rashid Khan and Marco Jansen
Rashid Khan was one of the best all-rounders in MLC 2024. He took 10 wickets and also scored 162 runs, constantly providing lower-order support to MI Cape Town after their regular collapses.
Marco Jansen, meanwhile, showed what he can do in the final. His three wickets practically won Freedom the game and made him the third-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 11 scalps. He can also bat and provides good depth.
Bowlers: Saurabh Netravalkar, Cameron Gannon and Harmeet Singh
Picking specialist bowlers was completely different to picking openers. For here, the locals did quite well and stood up as equals to the overseas batters.
Top of them was 2024 T20 World Cup and Freedom star Saurabh Netravalkar, who was the leading wicket-taker with 15 scalps in seven matches at an average of 13.47. He was at the top despite missing a couple of games.
Cameron Gannon was one of the very few silver linings in Seattle Orcas' campaign, taking 11 wickets at 19.27. The heavily built bowler would be perfect alongside Netravalkar and Jansen.
We have another space for a bowler to give this team an even more balanced look. This will be taken by Harmeet Singh, the former India under-19 left-arm spinner who took eight wickets at 18.62 for the Orcas.
12th man: Rachin Ravindra
As we can only include six overseas players, some excellent performers like Finn Allen and Devon Conway had to miss out. Another Kiwi, Rachin Ravindra, played a key role in Freedom's success, taking 12 wickets and batting in an atypical middle-order position.
He can come into this team for any of the players and the balance would remain just about the same.