Washington Freedom will kickstart its Major League Cricket (MLC) 2023 campaign against Seattle Orcas on Saturday.
The side will be skippered by Moises Henriques of Australia and will look to threaten sides in the tournament with its overseas pace trio of Anrich Nortje, Adam Milne and Marco Jansen.
The batting line-up, however, doesn’t inspire much confidence with international experience and quality severely lacking. Glenn Phillips, Joshua Phillipe and Henriques are the only overseas batters in the line-up with international experience. Phillipe and Henriques haven’t played international cricket in the past two years.
Washington will hope its domestic talent comes good. A lot will depend on openers Saad Ali and Mukhtar Ahmed while all-rounders Justin Dill and Obus Pienaar will also have a huge role to play.
WASHINGTON FREEDOM BEST PLAYING XI
Saad Ali, Mukhtar Ahmed, Glenn Phillips, Moises Henriques (c), Sujith Gowda, Joshua Phillipe (wk), Justin Dill, Obus Pienaar, Anrich Nortje, Adam Milne, Marco Jansen.
WASHINGTON FREEDOM SQUAD
WICKETKEEPERS
Andries Gous (domestic player), Josh Philippe (Australia), Glenn Phillips (New Zealand).
BATTERS
Mukhtar Ahmed (domestic player), Saad Ali (domestic player), Sujith Gowda (domestic player).
ALL-ROUNDERS
Justin Dill (domestic player), Moises Henriques (Australia), Obus Pienaar (domestic player).
BOWLERS
Akhilesh Bodugum (domestic player), Ben Dwarshuis (Australia), Marco Jansen (South Africa), Adam Milne (New Zealand), Saurabh Netravalkar (domestic player), Anrich Nortje (South Africa), Dane Piedt (domestic player), Usman Rafiq (domestic player), Tanveer Sangha (Australia).
Total players: 18
International players: 8