MLC 2025: Travis Head, Pat Cummins released as franchises announce retained players list ahead of draft

Travis Head and Pat Cummins are among the big Australian players released ahead of the Major League Cricket (MLC) draft. Apart from these players, big South African names like David Miller and Kagiso Rabada were also not retained in the MLC draft.

Head was Washington Freedom's joint-highest run scorer last year. His release was a big surprise as he was one of the key players in the franchise's title-winning run last year.

Also read: IPL 2025: Rajat Patidar a paper captain? Ex-cricketer claims 'Virat Kohli is running RCB'

Washington Freedom release Travis Head

The draft for the upcoming MLC season will take place on February 19. Defending Champions Washington Freedom retained a total of 15 players which is also the most among all the teams. However, they let go of Travis Head.

Along with these players, fast bowler Andrew Tye and left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein were also released by the franchise. Head and Smith were the joint second-highest run-getters in the last season with 336 runs in 9 matches.

Seattle Orcas retained just seven players which is the fewest among all the MLC franchises. They retained just two overseas players in the form of Ryan Rickelton and Heinrich Klaasen. Both are gun T20 players with Rickelton enjoying a successful stint in international cricket since the last MLC season.

They released seven overseas players which involved Quinton de Kock, Michael Bracewell, Obed McCoy, and Nandre Burger. Among these players, only Quinton de Kock has retired from international cricket.

MI New York release South African quicks

MI New York have retained Kieron Pollard along with the likes of Trent Boult, Nicholas Pooran, and Rashid Khan. Pollard has been associated with the MI franchise for a long time now. He was picked by the Mumbai Indians in the IPL after his heroics for Trinidad & Tobago.

While they retained these players, MI New York let go of both the South African fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. Tim David and Dewald Brevis were also not retained by the franchise ahead of this year's MLC draft.

LA Knight Riders retained just three overseas players in the form of Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Spencer Johnson. They released Jason Roy, David Miller, Adam Zampa, and Shakib Al Hasan. They are likely to do the heavy work in the auction.

Texas Super Kings retain opening combo

For Texas Super Kings, Faf du Plessis and Devon Conway are likely to keep their opening combination intact in the upcoming season. Super Kings also retained Marcus Stoinis and Noor Ahmad. Du Plessis also emerged as the highest run-scorer of the ML 2024 with 420 runs in 8 matches at an average of 52.50 and a strike rate of 171.42.

However, they released Daryl Mitchell, Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, and Naveen-ul-Haq among the overseas players. The release of Pathirana, who is one of the best T20 bowlers going around, was a big surprise ahead of the upcoming MLC draft.