IPL 2016: Fantasy Championship guide MI v RPSG

India is a country brimming with emotions. It is just a way of living here. Letting these emotions out is way better than holding them in and the IPL provides the best outlet for this. You support your team, revel in their victories, beat yourself up during a bleak phase and go to war with anyone who demeans them in any way. So, just let the emotions flow this IPL season, enjoy the cricket, support your team with passion and for the ones who want to get even more involved, sign up for the IPL Fantasy league.

So, I am going to be your ‘Fantasy Guide’ for the entirety of the IPL. Now, how this is going to work is that I do all the research and tell you what players are worth picking, what combinations you could go with, how the toss and pitch would influence the game and what kind of ‘schedule strategies’ you could use to your benefit.

Also, I’ll give thorough justifications on why I am going with a particular set of players and why some of the others will be missing out. So, just keep checking this space every day before you make your Fantasy team to get some crucial player insights.

Before we delve into the initial team setup, let’s just talk about the paucity of transfers this time round. There are just 80 transfers for 56 games, which is less than 1.5 transfers per game. So, you have to hold back initially. The two new teams would take some time in figuring out their best eleven, the correct batting order, the best bowlers in the middle overs, the best death bowlers etc. So don’t try and go for 50-50 picks at the start of the tournament. Play it a little safe. After maybe the 12th game, you could experiment a little bit but as of now stick to the basics.

The thumb rule in T20 games is that, if you want to go for a pure batsman, you only consider the batsmen who bat in the top 4 as they are the ones who would get to face most of the deliveries and thus would be the ones who could have the major say in their team’s final score. The problem with picking batsmen outside the top 4 is that there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the number of balls they would get to face. And you wouldn’t want to take that chance when you just have 1.42 transfers per game.

Coming to the bowlers, always give preference to those who bowl at the death. They might not be as good as some of the opening bowlers, but they could always run away with cheap wickets in the end. And in Fantasy cricket, it doesn’t matter how you get them.

Also, remember that spinners have always had a huge role in matches played in India. And the IPL is going to be no different. They bowl during the middle overs, stem the run flow and many a times get successful in tricking the batsmen into playing a false big stroke. Do get the quality spinners in.

Let’s get to business now!

Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune Supergiants

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Probable Mumbai Indians XI- Rohit Sharma, Lendl Simmons, Unmukt Chand, Jos Buttler, Keiron Pollard/Corey Anderson, AmbatiRayudu, Hardik Pandya, J. Suchith, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McCleneghan

Probable Rising Pune Supergiants XI-

Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen, Steve Smith, MS Dhoni, Mitch Marsh, Irfan Pathan, M Ashwin, R Ashwin, Ishwar Pandey, Ishant Sharma

Just over a week ago, every Indian fan at the Wankhede was in dismay. Nobody knew what had struck them; nobody knew how to deal with it, it just didn’t feel real. India had been ousted from the World T20 and everything just seemed to come crashing down for all Indian cricket fans. The dream had ended and everyone who was looking forward to at least see India compete in the final against England had very little idea of what he/she was going to do with his life.

Fast forward nine days and the ‘blues’ seem to have gone away. The pain of the defeat has given way to the excitement of witnessing another closely contested IPL season. The Wankhede would be immersed in a sea of blue and it promises to provide us with an exhilarating opening encounter.

The pitch is flat; the ball doesn’t seam, it doesn’t spin and it doesn’t swing for sure. The only thing that the ball does at the Wankhede is travel to all parts of the fence.

Now, on a track as flat as Wankhede, Rohit Sharma will be my first pick. In the pre-match interviews, he has talked about his willingness to open the batting, which further adds to his fantasy potential. In 220 T20 games, he has an average of 32.45 and a strike rate of 130.98. Get him in because he could go bonkers tomorrow.

There are only a few batsmen who are better than KP in the shortest format of the game. He hasn’t quite set the IPL on fire as of yet but that has largely been because of the ‘injury hampered’ seasons that he has had. But even though you can’t really recall any ‘KP gems’ in the IPL, he does have a healthy record in the IPL (average of 37 and a strike rate in excess of 130). His recent exploits in the BBL mean that despite not being a part of any national team, KP isn’t short on confidence or form. He’ll be my second pick for this game.

Jos Buttler is the epitome of the new age English batsmen. He likes to express himself, show his authority and play fearless cricket. His exploits during the World T20 are enough to warrant him a place. Also, his wicketkeeping skills give you an extra scoring option.

Now, the only bowler who is even worth considering for this game is Jasprit Bumrah, Bowls upfront, bowls at the death, bowls slower balls, bowls yorkers at will; enough for him to take his rightful place in my team. I omit all other bowlers on a flat deck as I don’t see them doing any significant work apart from just running up to the crease and completing their 4 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane may not be your run of the mill T20 big hitter but he has been extremely efficient at the top of the order. His familiarity with the Wankhede pitch also comes in handy and he is sure to give you at least 50 points whenever you pick him.

Always remember that you have just 80 transfers. Do not make reckless substitutions in the start as a lot can change during the course of this two-month long tournament. This is why I just go with 5 players for the first game.

I omit Keiron Pollard because he is just returning from injury and I have never been a big fan of his batting or bowling. Even if he plays, I don’t expect him to cause much damage. Corey Anderson could be left out in favour of Mitchell McCleneghan and that rules out the possibility of his selection in my team.

I go for KP over Faf because of the impact player that KP is. Faf could give you a solid start but KP is the one who could take the game away from the opposition. And as I already have Rahane as my ‘dependable’ player, I don’t need another one. Also, remember that you can only have 4 overseas players, which limits the number of international superstars that you can have in your side.

Steve Smith is another notable exclusion. He could be demoted to number 4 and again he too loses out to KP in terms of the ‘impact player’ rating.

The other players that make up my initial team are Andre Russell, Imran Tahir, Shreyas Iyer, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina and Sandeep Sharma.

Russell’s selection should raise no eyebrows. Tahir would be more than handy on a slow and sluggish Eden Gardens track. Shreyas Iyer is arguably the best domestic batsman. Suresh Raina is an IPL run machine (despite his current form) and Sandeep Sharma was probably the find of the season last time round.

Note: More on these players in tomorrow’s article.

Captain for this game: Jos Buttler (if Mumbai bat first)/ Rohit Sharma (if Mumbai bat second)

Buttler gives you the luxury of a second scoring option because of his wicketkeeping.

Do check out this space tomorrow for the Fantasy picks for Day 2 of the IPL.

Happy team picking!

Note: The Fantasy website is down as of now and that’s the reason we couldn’t post a screenshot of the team.