IPL 2014: Fantasy Guru - Cash in on Abu Dhabi double headers

Guru’s team after two matches

While I was conservative in the first two matches for reasons explained in my first article (Kick-off strategy), I would be more aggressive in the next couple of matches, as I have a good account of the Abu Dhabi wicket.

Points to be noted ahead of the double-headers:

Faf du Plessis captained Chennai Super Kings in the practice match against Kolkata Knight Riders despite Brendon McCullum being a part of it, and Dwayne Smith played a blitzkrieg to ease past the Kolkata-based outfit. Also, CSK love continuity. So, are we looking at a Du Plessis and Dwayne Smith pairing up top?

Contrary to the popular belief that the pitches in the United Arab Emirates will help the spin bowlers, the first two days saw them being good batting decks.

Morne Morkel kept banging Kieron Pollard with brutal rising deliveries and outplayed Michael Hussey in the powerplay with bounce and swing. Varun Aaron hit JP Duminy on the helmet.

Kevin Pietersen sounded hopeless when asked about when he would return to the team. I have him in my All Stars 11, and this is a hammer blow.

David Warner has played as a middle order batsman for Delhi Daredevils and quite inexplicably had a reasonable success, too. One of Aaron Finch, Shikhar Dhawan and Warner needs to drop down, and it could very well be Australia’s Ashes hero. Not that I agree with it; I want Dhawan to drop down, as he will have a better chance of being successful against spinners than the Australian pair.

Chennai Super Kings vs. Kings 11 Punjab:

Guru’s team for the 3rd match – CSK vs. KXIP

Transfers made – 2; Transfers remaining – 73

George Bailey (in) – Sunil Narine (out)Mitchell Johnson (in) – Lasith Malinga (out)Pravin Tambe (in) – Mayank Agarwal (out)

Captain – Mitchell Johnson

I had Baba Aparajith in already, even ahead of the start of the tournament, as he was the most likeliest to play and cheapest available replacement for Jasprit Bumrah, who was in the team at first place before a Mumbai Indians’ brain freeze saw him being dropped. They did pay for it, though.

Here you may notice that Mayank Agarwal, the other uncapped player in the team, has been replaced by Pravin Tambe, a Rajasthan Royals player, and not anyone from CSK or KXIP. It is done because, with the exception of Ishwar Pandey and Sandeep Sharma (who are unlikely to play), I don’t see any worthy uncapped player who can give me points.

While Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra would have been valuable additions on other tracks, with the assistance that the pace bowlers bowlers got at Abu Dhabi, I do not see them surviving the first 6 overs. They have shown their propensity to attack without any awareness to the match situation or the nature of the pitch one too many times before, and hence I am not ready to gamble on them.

I have gone for a much safer option in Tambe from the very next fixture that follows CSK vs. KXIP. While you are allowed to pick one free uncapped player for every match, it is not necessary that he should be from the teams playing in it. So you could pick anyone who can bring you points instead of wasting in someone whom you think won’t do well.

CSK top order in trouble:

I was very confident of Suresh Raina making my line-up, but then I watched the first match. With Morne bowling the way he did, I am now inclined to keep Raina out fearing a Mitchell Johnson run-in through the CSK top order. Even the most assured of the CSK trio of openers – Du Plessis – wouldn’t find a spot for the same reason. With that bounce, in addition to Johnson, Parvinder Awana can pose enough threat too.

The MS Dhoni puzzle:

Generally, if CSK’s top order fails, they will look up to MS Dhoni to save face. However, as Dhoni usually plays a floater like Baba Aparajith/Mithun Manhas and Dwayne Bravo at number 4 and 5, he will be coming in at only no. 6. What if he runs out of partners or CSK somehow manage to resist Johnson’s possible surge? There are quite a few uncertainties to stay away from making this move.

Since Punjab have an abysmal death bowling unit and a No. 5 batsman wouldn’t face much of Johnson, Dwayne Bravo, in rich vein of form lately, looks a safe bet to me.

Samuel Badree will probably sit out:

CSK would have entertained thoughts of playing Badree as the overseas bowler when they picked him at the auction. With the assistance that the pacers got in the first match, I don’t think that it is the case anymore, more so when you already have Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the team. Ben Hilfenhaus could well get a chance in the CSK colours again, especially when you consider CSK’s weakness in the pace department and Dhoni’s love to ‘manoeuvre’ with pacers.

If Hilfenhaus plays, he is worth a spot in your fantasy team, as KXIP will most likely have a top 3 of Virender Sehwag, Mandeep Singh/Wriddhiman Saha and Manan Vohra. All 3 will hardly have any clue if Hilfenhaus gets it right.I don’t usually rate him in T20s in the subcontinent, as he is scopeless at death. However, when the pitch has something on offer, he would be the first one to extract it.

KXIP:

Perhaps my point about why Hilfenhaus will be effective would give an indication of how much I value the KXIP top 3. So it will all be left in hands of Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey to do the repair work. The pitches should suit their style of batting, and both look good to me.

Why them and why not David Miller has been explained in my previous article. They could make it worse by sending someone like Wriddhiman Saha as a floater.

Given the nature of the wicket, Mitchell Johnson should be your first name on the sheet.

Murali Karthik’s presence in my squad has been briefed in my first article, as well. Looking at the nature of the pitches, I am less confident of him succeeding now, though. I can’t take him out anyway, so he has to play this match.

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Rajasthan Royals:

Guru’s team for the 4th match – RR vs SRH

Transfers made – 4; Transfers remaining – 69

Darren Sammy (in) – Mitchell Johnson (out)Dale Steyn (in) – Michael Hussey (out)Amit Mishra (in) – Ravichandran Ashwin (out)Sanju Samson (in) – Murali Karthik (out)Dhawal Kulkarni (in) – Baba Aparajith (out)

Captain – Amit Mishra

You may notice that Samson, an uncapped player, has been included at the cost of Murali Karthik, a capped player. The change was forced to accommodate the other 4 substitutions, as doing them needed a tweak in the combination of players. Also, the budget is very tight this time around, and it looks like one needs 3 uncapped players for a smooth road ahead and to avoid any last minute hassles.

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

The very thought of Warner and Aaron Finch being humbled by Pravin Tambe freaks me out. Tambe loves bowling ‘sliders’, and both of them don’t pick it as well they should. This scenario comes into play should they escape the swing bowling of Vikramjeet Malik and Dhawal Kulkarni up top. Shikhar Dhawan isn’t in greatest of forms to ponder over his inclusion.

Darren Sammy will be left with all to do, and he can easily steal the show given the form he is in and the composure he exhibits. Not to forget he can chip in with a couple of wickets, too.

Amit Mishra and Dale Steyn, simply put, need to be in the team.

Rajasthan Royals:

Ajinkya Rahane will be up against an almost international attack and will have his shortcomings brutally exposed.Shane Watson could come a cropper against the likes of Steyn and Mishra; therefore, I am not entertaining the thoughts of having him in the team.

Faulkner is valuable for an IPL team, but not for us. He isn’t Lasith Malinga or Sunil Narine. He will hardly have any time to make an impact with the bat, as well, unless he is promoted.

Steve Smith, should he play – with the ability to play spinners, apply himself, and be explosive at the same time – is worth a spot. I doubt him playing though, as Rajasthan Royals just love what Kevon Cooper has to offer, who isn’t of much use to us.

If you ask Watson at the innings break on who among Stuart Binny and Brad Hodge will come into bat first, even he wouldn’t be able to say that, which rules both of them out.

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Mumbai Indians:

Guru’s team for the 5th match – RCB vs MI

Transfers made – 2; Transfers remaining – 67

Aditya Tare (in) – Pravin Tambe (out)Michael Hussey (in) – George Bailey (out)Lasith Malinga (in) – Dale Steyn (out)

Captain – Virat Kohli

Choosing Tare ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal may look outrageous. As much as I rate Chahal, I should be practical, too. Hussey, Rayudu and Rohit are probably 3 of the best players of spin around the world now, and it would be ignorant of someone to think he will be repeating the Man-of-the-Match performance again.

RCB:

Yuvraj Singh will be the point of debate. Although he scored a 50, let’s not forget that the Delhi Daredevils bowling exhibition was one of the worst in recent memories. The fact that they were captained by Dinesh Karthik, who looked out-of-sorts with the way he managed the bowlers, didn’t help either. Mumbai, with Malinga and Harbhajan Singh (yes, he is still an off-spinner, which is enough), will not make his job that easy.

If there is a match that I would take an AB de Villiers who bats at 5 in my team, it will be this. I expect the openers and Yuvraj to fail, which will leave it to Kohli and ABD to do what they do: destroy the opposition. While Kohli is a certainty, ABD is a low-risk gamble.

None of the capped RCB bowlers will make it to my side.

Mumbai Indians:

Place your trust in Michael Hussey; he is Mr. Cricket for a reason. RCB’s bowlers are not threatening enough to do what the Knight Riders did to him.

Rayudu travels with you throughout the IPL:

Rayudu has become an integral part of my team, as he comes in cheap and bats in the top 4. I rate him in T20s in these conditions when he bats at the top. A decent player against fast bowling, he will take the attack to the spinners, unless and until it is Sunil Narine.

If Hussey finds form, both Kieron Pollard and Corey Anderson will have little to do; thereby, they stay where they are: out of my team.

Rohit Sharma and Lasith Malinga are too good to even discuss on why they should be in.

While I will be interested in having the Mumbai spin-duo against any other team, when the opposition has Kohli and ABD, I wouldn’t. Pragyan Ojha will have more setbacks when you consider that apart from the duo, RCB have 3 left-handers which can nullify his slow left-arm orthodox. Harbhajan Singh, on the other hand, is worth a gamble, a high-risk gamble, though.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Delhi Daredevils:

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 66

Sunil Narine (in) – Michael Hussey (out)Manish Pandey (in) – Sanju Samson (out)Captain – Sunil Narine

Except Narine, all the picks for this match will be based on how the Dubai pitch behaves in the first match of the day. As we haven’t yet seen an IPL match being played at Dubai, it would be unwise to strategise for it at this point.

I did not have Gambhir last time. Nothing changes this time, too, as he doesn’t look good to get past Mohammed Shami and Wayne Parnell/Nathan Coulter-Nile.

In my previous article, I did not even have Jacques Kallis as a choice, as KKR employed him at No. 3/4 last time around. Now that he is back as an opener and will be playing against a not-so-threatening attack and a vulnerable batting unit, the South African great will make his way back into the team, unless it is a turner.

Morkel, despite his stunning show against Mumbai Indians, will only get the nod ahead if the pitches assists pace bowling, just like the Abu Dhabi one did.

Delhi Daredevils:

No players from DD will make the cut, and that includes JP Duminy, too. By the time Duminy comes in, he will have 3 overs of Narine to face and will perish in trying to attack him. If Kevin Pietersen somehow makes a recovery in time, I will consider including him.

Though the fact that DD have 2 matches in 3 days makes me think twice about Duminy’s inclusion. However, again as I said, the first match will have a major say in how to go about things. Any modifications made to my team ahead of this encounter, therefore, would be updated in the article couple of hours ahead of the scheduled start. You can watch this space to know the progress.

A look at uncapped players:

Guru’s ‘nod’ will vary depending on the next fixture; the ‘comment’ stays the same.

Note: Click on the image to enlarge it

KKR vs. DD (added now):

Jacques Kallis looks a very safe bet. Since KKR don’t have their second match lined-up any soon and Kallis is no Shane Watson, I have chosen to leave him out, though. It would be totally fine to have him, too.

There is a lot of risk involved in keeping him out, but the decision is taken keeping in mind that there are lot of fixtures to follow where teams play back-to-back, and you need to have transfers to make use of him.