Here's a look at the squads and the key players, and the strengths and weaknesses of each of the MLC's six franchises.

Los Angeles Knight Riders

The Sunil Narine-led and Phil Simmons-coached Knight Riders' strength is in the quality of their all-rounders. They boast the services of Andre Russell and Shakib Al Hasan alongside their captain, which offers them the luxury of extra bowling options alongside serious batting depth. The Knight Riders' squad also includes David Miller and Jason Roy.

A concern for Simmons, however, will be the side's fast bowling options. Although the franchise's pace bowling attack is spearheaded by Josh Little, the Irish pacer struggled for form in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, in which he went wicketless. LAKR will be hoping their spin bowling options – Adam Zampa and Waqar Salamkheil – are able to compensate for the lack of fast-bowling depth.

MI New York

The inaugural champions of the MLC have a balanced squad that is well-placed to defend their title. Whether they do end up going back to back, however, will likely depend on the performances of their frightening pace attack, spearheaded by T20 World Cup finalists Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje and supported by Trent Boult, Romario Shepherd, and former Pakistan international Ehsan Adil.

The side also has some serious lower-order firepower with the likes of Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Kieron Pollard, and will also field one of T20 cricket's most valuable players, Rashid Khan. MI New York's top order is thin, though, and a lot will ride on captain Nicholas Pooran's performances with bat in hand.

San Fransisco Unicorns

Finn Allen, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Matt Short and Sherfane Rurtherford. Few players can be as destructive as these guys on their best days, and if they all get going in the next few weeks, the San Francisco Unicorns will be fun to watch.

The Shane Watson-coached Unicorns also boast the services of Australia captain Pat Cummins, who they roped in on a four-year deal, as well as Corey Anderson, the former Kiwi all-rounder who turned out for the US at the T20 World Cup last month. Despite their unquestionable batting firepower, they do lack quality all-rounders, which may see them struggle for balance.

Seattle Orcas

The Seattle Orcas' batting prowess is underscored by their South African batting trio – Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen and Ryan Rickleton. These three will be supported by American World Cup hero Aaron Jones, as well as Kiwi all-rounder Michael Bracewell in what is a categorically strong batting line-up.

The Orcas also have some quality spin bowling options, including Imad Wasim and Harmeet Singh; they also have high quality seam in the likes of Obed McCoy, Nandre Burger, and Zaman Khan.

Texas Super Kings

Texas Super Kings' fortunes will ride on their captain, Faf du Plessis, and South Africa's T20I skipper, Aiden Markram's performances with the bat, for they lack batting depth, with Devon Conway and Marcus Stoinis being the only other established international batters in their squad.

The Super Kings do, however, make up for their lack of batting depth with a plethora of excellent bowling options, which include Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana, and Mitchell Santner. To be in with a shout of winning the tournament, they will bank on regularly restricting the opposition to low scores.

Washington Freedom

Based in the country's capital, Washington Freedom perhaps predictably have more American talent than any other MLC side. Andries Gous and Saurabh Netravalkar, the most impressive players from the US' outstanding T20 World Cup campaign, will both turn out for the Freedom, under captain Steve Smith and coach Ricky Ponting.

Washington Freedom also boast the services of Akeal Hosein, Rachin Ravindra, Marco Jansen and Lockie Ferguson – who became the second bowler to bowl 4 maiden overs in a T20I in the T20 World Cup last month – as well as the belligerent Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell. With an abundance of local and international talent, and with all departments covered, early signs point to Washington Freedom being the team to beat in the second edition of the MLC.

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