I am actually happy that I was forced to switch to Fandromeda because of the issues with the official Fantasy IPL site yesterday, as the interface here looks much better and user-friendly. In addition to it, the additional features like uncapped players and batting and bowling captains only make it more exciting.
I had to make a few adjustments to my team to suit this version, though, the most important of which was sacrificing Faf du Plessis for Dwayne Bravo.
The rule that a team should have a minimum of six bowling options will have a say in a lot of moves you will be making this season as there are not many quality Indian all-round options around, which force you to almost always have two overseas all-rounders in your side.
If Suresh Raina finds form, it could make things a lot easier, as he comes under the all-rounders category in the game.
The transfer strategy remains the same as discussed in the previous article. With the first encounter becoming an off-pattern game (average of only around 275 points), it isn't too late to start your season. If anything, you could only gain more points if you play the right way.
Also read: Sunil Narine to miss KKR's opener against Delhi Daredevils
Kolkata Knight Riders
The collective failure of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ top 4 last season was one of the reasons why they were eliminated very early from the tournament. This time, however, Robin Uthappa seems to be in some serious form with 3 100s and 2 50s in his last 5 FC matches and 2 45+ scores – one of which being 80 – in last 5 T20s.
Gautam Gambhir, on the other hand, has a total of 108 runs in his last 9 T20s, all of which happened in January 2016. I wouldn’t really want to have him in that form. Manish Pandey hasn’t played any T20 matches of late, but that he has got 4 50+ scores in his last 6 one-day matches tells you that you can count on him to put together useful knocks.
Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan at No.4, 5 and 6 should be moved around as per the match situation the team finds itself in. Russell is clearly the better option of the three, with him bowling at the death and being the team’s go-to big-hitter.
The Knight Riders are actually the fastest to three matches in this phase, and hence, I see value in getting Umesh Yadav into my team. You can expect the Indian speedster to share the death bowling duties with Russell, which should get him some wickets.
Predicted Playing XI: Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Brad Hogg/Colin Munro (2)/Chris Lynn (3), Morne Morkel, Umesh Yadav
The likes of Ankit Rajpoot and Jaydev Unadkat will come into the scene at some stage of the tournament, but I don’t see a role for them now.
Top uncapped pick: Kuldeep Yadav, if he plays. Suryakumar Yadav needs to bat up the order to do anything of note, which is highly unlikely.
Fantasy factors
Shakib Al Hasan: The Bangladesh all-rounder’s batting position will go a long way in deciding whether he is an option worth having in your fantasy team. There have been times in the last season where he batted too low, at No.6 and 7, that he nearly returned nothing with the bat. I wouldn’t get him in till I get a good idea of how Gambhir has planned to go about his team's batting order this season.
The Kolkata deck: The Knight Riders prefer it to be slow and low for their spinners to come into the game, And if the recently-concluded World Cup is anything to go by, you can expect more of the same.
Colin Munro and Chris Lynn: Both Munro and Lynn have the ability to play match-winning knocks on good batting decks, but if it spins, don’t even think about getting any of them in.
Delhi Daredevils
Delhi Daredevils may have messed it up big time in the auction by overpaying players, but contrary to popular opinion, they do have it in them to surprise teams this season. The Zaheer Khan led team will be my dark horses for the season should they play to their potential.
What makes me so confident is the form of Quinton de Kock and big-hitting prowess of Carlos Brathwaite. In addition to it, if JP Duminy and Shreyas Iyer could repeat their last season’s performances, they shouldn’t have any issues with their batting order. And this is without what the likes of Sanju Samson, Karun Nair and Chris Morris would do.
Nathan Coulter-Nile and Imran Tahir were among the two best Daredevils’ players last season, but I don’t see them getting a permanent spot this time around – the all-round skills of Brathwaite and Morris should appeal more to the Daredevils’ think-tank
Rahul Dravid and Paddy Upton made Rajasthan Royals one of the most flexible teams in the Indian Premier League, and I expect the same to happen at Delhi – which would mean a lot of shuffling with their players, especially the overseas ones. The batting order will be quite difficult to predict as well. One thing that you can be sure of is that the team will be aggressive and calculated in approaching a situation
Playing XI: Quinton de Kock, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, JP Duminy, Carlos Brathwaite, Karun Nair, Chris Morris, Pawan Negi, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Zaheer Khan
There is a slight possibility that De Kock could miss out on slow, low wickets with Imran Tahir getting the nod ahead of him. What stacks the odds against the South African is the presence of the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Nair and Samson in the side who could all play the top order well, thereby creating space for an extra overseas bowler in the side. On good batting decks, though, De Kock should have no issues.
Fantasy factor
The Dravid-Upton think-tank: Unconventional, bold and aggressive. Rajasthan Royals were one of the nightmares when it came to fantasy games, constantly changing their team, batting order and bowling plans, and hence I would recommend not being overly dependent on a team managed by these two.
KKR vs DD – Fantasy Picks
Transfers made – 0 (1); Transfers remaining – 85 (84)
On a turner, Hardik Pandya out – Kuldeep Yadav in (if Kuldeep doesn’t play, see what suits your combination)
On a flat deck, Hardik Pandya out – Shreyas Iyer in & Jos Buttler out – Glenn Maxwell in (combination move)
Batting captain – Robin Uthappa (flat)/Andre Russell (turner), Bowling captain – Andre Russell
I haven’t picked any of the Delhi overseas players because I am not too sure of how they will be used.
