MLC 2023: San Francisco Unicorns SWOT Analysis

The second game of the first edition of the Major League Cricket (MLC) will see MI New York take on the San Francisco Unicorns. The Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas will be hosting this clash. The San Francisco Unicorns represent San Jose, California, with Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan being the owners.

The Unicorns have appointed Australian all-rounder Shane Watson as their head coach. T20 World Cup-winning skipper Aaron Finch will be leading the Unicorns in the Major League Cricket 2023. The former Australian captain has tons of experience under his belt and they have done a decent job to pick a good all-round squad for the competition.

Ahead of their opening game against MI New York, let’s have a look at the squads and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) that the San Francisco Unicorns possess.

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San Francisco Unicorns Squad for MLC 2023

Aaron Finch (c), Qais Ahmad, Finn Allen, Corey Anderson, Amila Aponso, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Brody Couch, Mackenzie Harvey, Shadab Khan, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Carmi Le Roux, Lungi Ngidi, Smit Patel, Liam Plunkett, Tajinder Singh, Haris Rauf, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David White

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Strengths

The real strength of the San Francisco Unicorns is their bowling attack. Lungi Ngidi, Liam Plunkett, and Haris Rauf form a solid pace-battery that can certainly rip the opposition apart. Shadab Khan is the lead spinner in the side and he along with Tajinder Singh can spin a web around the opposition batters.

Aaron Finch will be leading the Unicorns in the inaugural edition of MLC and he has plenty of experience. He has led Australia in the shorter formats for a number of years and it will help them seize the crunch situations.

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Weaknesses

The weakness of the San Francisco Unicorns is their middle-order batting. Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis and Corey Anderson are the only experienced batters in their lineup and it will all come down to the contribution of the inexperienced local players. The over-reliance on international stars may prove to be a disadvantage for them in the competition.

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Opportunities

As every coin has two sides, inexperience in the batting lineup might just present an opportunity for the local players to step up. The likes of Chaitanya Bishnoi, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, and Tajinder Singh can certainly put in solid performances and show the world that they belong to the big stage.

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Threats

The threat for the San Francisco Unicorns going into Major League Cricket 2023 is their inexperienced batting lineup. If the opposition batters manage to pick early wickets and send the international stars back in the hut early in the innings, there is every chance that the Unicorns’ batters may falter under pressure.

The Unicorns lack a specialist death bowler. The likes of Ngidi, Rauf, and Plunkett can all bowl with the new ball but haven’t been at their best in the death overs. This might hurt them in the long run, especially while defending totals in the MLC 2023.

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Probable XI of San Francisco Unicorns for MLC 2023

Aaron Finch (c), Finn Allen, Smit Patel (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Tajinder Singh, Corey Anderson, Shadab Khan, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Liam Plunkett, Lungi Ngidi