IPL 2016 Qualifier 2: Fantasy Championship guide GL v SRH

Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Lions would be ruing their luck with regard to the venue choices for this year’s playoffs. Their top spot has been rendered useless as they had to play the first qualifier at RCBs home ground and they now have to travel to Delhi to play the Sunrisers, who have had the luxury of playing their previous encounter at the same venue.

With Moises Henriques finally coming good at number 3 and Yuvraj Singh playing elegantly as ever, Sunrisers have little to worry about. On the other hand, the Lions have been dealt with a lot of top order failures off late and would desperately need both Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum to sink their teeth into the SRH bowling unit.

Now, for the last game, as Russell was deemed unfit and Mustafizur Rahman was going to bowl in the second innings, I went ahead with Moises Henriques in my team and that move really paid off. With him certain to bat at number 3 for this game as well, it becomes really imperative that you get him in.

Also read – IPL 9, Qualifier 2 Preview: SRH, GL clash for a place in the final

So, I already have Henriques, David Warner, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Barinder Sran, Aaron Finch and Suresh Raina in my team.

I have found ten reasons to not go with Dwayne Smith in every game but every time his team and his skills have ensured that I am forced to eat my words. I just have to get him in for this match.

Yuvi has provided a lot of oomph to SRHs batting, especially during the death overs and the fact that he’ll be up against left-hand spinners, further strengthens his cause for selection. But, I bring Yuvraj in only if Hyderabad bat first, as the score board pressure could get to him whilst batting second. In that case I go for Shikhar Dhawan, i.e. when Sunrisers bat second.

Now, after making this change I have 5 transfers left and I need to save at least 4 for the final, as I have transferred out all RCB players, so I can only go for one more transfer in this game.

Also check out – 5 Players to watch out for in the IPL 9 Qualifier 2

My last transfer for this game will be Dhaval Kulkarni. The tossup was between him and Dinesh Karthik and I opted for Kulkarni ahead of him as DK might get pushed down the order, due to Smith’s form in the middle order. Also, Dhaval was in great form in the previous game and thus I want to cash in on his rich form.

If you want to go for Dinesh Karthik, I would advise that you look at the pitch conditions before making that decision. A slow and sluggish pitch could mean that Dhaval’s slower ones could be deadly and thus he would give more points than Karthik. But if the pitch is deemed a flat one, Karthik could help himself to a few runs.

For the uncapped player, I get in Deepak Hooda, as Warner has started to trust him with the ball as well. Due to Moises’ success at number 3, Hooda’s batting potential has taken a severe hit, but then his all-round abilities give me a little safety. Shadab Jakati could be tonked around the park by the left handers in the SRH lineup and thus that rules him out.

Bipul Sharma could be your next best choice. His big hitting skills low down the order can help boost your score.

Batting Captain: David Warner

Bowling Captain: Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

Happy team picking!