IPL 2016: Fantasy Championship guide MI v RCB

It was a similar script for the both Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders yesterday. KKR opted to bowl, controlled the game in the middle overs thanks to their spinners and ultimately ensured that their openers did the bulk of the scoring. Kings XI, on the other hand, delivered another sub-par performance with the bat with Miller and Maxwell again failing to make any significant contribution.

Narine and co. kept a stranglehold on the game in the middle overs and that was enough to break the back of the out of form Kings XI middle order. Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir were once again clinical with their approach and this time, it was, Uthappa who dictated the tempo of the game. The middle order too got to spend a little time in the middle and that could come in handy on a day when the openers have an off day. KXIP on the other hand, need to go back to the drawing board and just have to find a way to bat better.

Let’s get to business now!

Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Transfer out: Andre Russell, Robin Uthappa, Pradeep Sahu

Transfer in: AB de Villiers, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya (uncapped)

Two teams with arguably the highest number of match winners with the bat take on each other at the Wankhede tonight. But the Wankhede track has proved to be an enigma this IPL and I am not sure as to what version will turn up today. I am hopeful of the familiar batting paradise as I have quite a few batsmen in my team for this game.

While Mumbai have been constantly fiddling with their batting order, RCB will have to make a few changes as well since Chris Gayle has flown back to West Indies for the birth of his child. So, if you did pick him for the last RCB game, my sympathies.

I already have Virat Kohli, Martin Guptill, Rohit Sharma, Shane Watson and Jasprit Bumrah in my side for this game.

The only match winner that isn’t present in my team as of now is ABD and I give him a free pass into my team. Now, to bring him in, the only available player to ‘transfer out’ is Andre Russell and this brings about a problem in my team combination as I only have 5 bowlers. Also, I cannot even use the uncapped player pick to sort my combination problem as the present uncapped player in my team is Pradeep Sahu who is an all-rounder. Thus, in order to get ABD in, I will have to transfer in a domestic bowler at the expense of a domestic batsman.

As I already have a lot of players from this game, I bring in one bowler from the next game between Gujarat Lions and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The two best options are Dhaval Kulkarni and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. While Dhaval had a good last outing against Mumbai Indians, he bowled three overs in the powerplay and then bowled out in the 10th over. The fact that his captain doesn’t see him as a death bowler tilts me towards Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.

Bhuvi bowls two up front and two at the death, which gives him enough chance to give you at least 50 points and hence I bring him in.

For the uncapped player pick, I go with Krunal Pandya as he has been amazing with bat and his left-arm spin will come in handy against a right-handed RCB top order.

Batting captain: AB de Villiers (if RCB bat first)/ Virat Kohli (if RCB bat second)

Bowling captain: Shane Watson (if RCB bowl first)/ Jasprit Bumrah (if MI bowl first)

Coming to the official fantasy league, I already have Rohit Sharma, Martin Guptill, Jos Buttler, Krunal Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah in my side for this game. I transfer out Gambhir to get in Kohli. Now, for the second transfer, I transfer out Russell to get in Watson, if RCB bat first. If RCB bat second, I transfer in AB de Villiers for Russell. When RCB bat first, Watson gets the opportunity to perform with the bat as well but he won’t be getting that opportunity when RCB bat second because if Mumbai fall for a paltry total, the top order would do the bulk of the scoring.

But just wait for the toss before you make this change as Watson could open the batting in Gayle’s absence. If Kohli somehow makes it clear that Watson would be opening the batting, leave ABD out and bring Watson in.

Captain: Shane Watson (For his all round capabilities)

Happy team picking!