Washington Freedom (cricket)

In May 2022, Major League Cricket announced that it had secured $120 million from various investors across the United States.[7] One of these investors was Sanjay Govil, who was later announced to be the lead investor and owner of the Washington DC-based franchise team.[8] Alongside MLC, Govil partnered up with George Mason University to launch a feasibility study into a 12,000-seat hybrid cricket/baseball stadium later that year in December.[9] The stadium would be on track to finish its completion around summer of 2025 and play host to the DC franchise.[10]

In February 2023, Major League Cricket announced that Govil had entered a partnership with Cricket New South Wales to help accelerate the growth of the DC-based franchise.[11] The agreement included initiatives to further player development opportunities, as well as cricket content, within the U.S., an exchange program of coaches and support staff, and opportunities for NSW-based players to play in MLC.[12] Cricket NSW chief executive Lee Germon stated that "... he [Govil] was very keen to not have an IPL partner... [and wanted to] partner with someone outside who could really bring what we wanted to the table."[13]

In March 2023, the team's name, the Washington Freedom, and logo were officially revealed to the public.[14] Upon the unveiling of the team name and logo, Govil said that, "the team's mark and colors are a perfect for a team from the nation's capital to compete on the global stage."[15]

The Freedom had the second overall pick of the MLC's inaugural domestic draft and selected Thunderbolts vice-captain Andries Gous as their first draft pick.[16] Dane Piedt, Mukhtar Ahmed, and Saad Ali were also all picked up by the team, with Sri Lanka international Wanindu Hasaranga (who later pulled out of the competition) and South African quick Anrich Nortje both being announced as direct signings during the draft.[17][18] Marco Jansen, Glenn Phillips, and Adam Milne were all also announced as direct signings in May.[19][20] The team then later announced it would be led by Sixers captain Moises Henriques.[21] Shortly after, they announced that they had appointed Greg Shipperd as their head coach and Dale Steyn as their bowling coach.[22] Later the following month, they announced Josh Philippe, Ben Dwarshuis, and Akeal Hosein all as additional direct signings.[23][24] Tanveer Sangha was signed in the days leading up to the tournament as a replacement for Hasaranga, while Matthew Short was added to the squad as an injury replacement for Josh Philippe.

Freedom's season started with a narrow defeat against Seattle Orcas, before they bounced back in the second fixture against Texas Super Kings, winning by six runs thanks to a fantastic all-round bowling display that backed up 80 off 50 balls from Matt Short.

Two more wins would follow against LA Knight Riders and San Francisco Unicorns, before a defeat at the hands of MI New York would see Freedom forced to settle for a place in the third v fourth Eliminator fixture in Finals week. The highlight of Freedom's group stage campaign came against the Unicorns, where Saurabh Netravalkar starred with an outstanding bowling performance, claiming 6-9 as Freedom successfully defended 133.