Gujarat Lions vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Transfers made – 2; Transfers remaining – 56
David Warner out – Dwayne Bravo in
Bipul Sharma out – Suresh Raina in
(Uncapped) Krunal Pandya out – Pravin Tambe in
Batting captain – Virat Kohli
Bowling captain – Dwayne Bravo (if GL bowl first)/ Shane Watson (if RCB bowl first)
Batting captaincy options – Virat kohli and AB de Villiers
With Kohli and De Villiers at the peak of their powers, it doesn’t really make sense to look beyond. Out of the two, I will pick Kohli as he would have scored a good amount of runs by the time Bravo comes into play. Also, if they chase a low target, the Indian stalwart could get away with more runs.
Suresh Raina’s performance this match depends on how he deals Watson, who can bounce him out. With Tabraiz Shasmi in, I expect Aaron Finch to be choked by spin after the powerplay overs. Also, differentials only come into play when there is a chance of the popular picks failing.
Bowling captaincy options – Shane Watson and Dwayne Bravo
Employ the usual strategy of captaining the bowler bowling first; however, Watson’s potential should most likely remain the same even if Royal Challengers bat first, as their batting line-up is too strong and deep to not post a challenging total on the board. Not for nothing have they won twice despite batting first on good batting wickets.
Nature of the wicket – Flat. The size of the ground is the only issue that should trouble the batsmen.
GL – where the match breaks
Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum should help the Lions get off to a good start, but tackling the likes of Iqbal Abdulla, Tabraiz Shamsi and Yuzvendra Chahal, who could play today, is asking too much from them. This is where the Lions’ India-heavy middle order needs to step up.
Get James Faulkner back in – As bad as the 25-year-old has been this tournament, he is still a better bet than Dale Steyn in T20s – and this move gives you an extra batting option as well.
RCB – where the match breaks
Bowl Iqbal Abdulla in the powerplay (and if possible, Chahal as well) – Both Finch and McCullum aren’t great players of spin and have a history of getting out to spinners early on in their innings. Don’t let them settle in.
Axe Rahul, bring back Jadhav, and open with Mandeep – Rahul is not a T20 player. It’s high time Kohli understands that. And they have unnecessarily stocked up the middle order that’s not going to be needed in majority of their matches. Promote Mandeep, one of the revelations of last season.
Uncapped picks – Iqbal Abdulla (1), Pravin Tambe, and Mandeep Singh (if he opens)
If Mandeep doesn’t open and Chahal doesn’t get picked, I would go with Tambe, with Abdulla already in my team. In general though, don’t expect much from the 44-year-old, as he will be bowling to Kohli and De Villiers.
Notable Omission
Considering I have to transfer out Finch immediately after the match and that I am not going to captain him anyway, I can take a hit of 100 points, which is the maximum I expect from him this match, with him pitted against Abdulla and Shamsi and most likely Chahal as well.
Match call: RCB to win, bat first or bowl first.
Rising Pune Supergiants vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Transfers made – 3; Transfers remaining – 53
Shane Watson out – Faf du Plessis in
AB de Villiers out – Robin Uthappa in
Virat Kohli out – Gautam Gambhir in
(Uncapped) Iqbal Abdulla out – Murugan Ashwin in
Batting captain – Gautam Gambhir
Bowling captain – Murugan Ashwin
Batting captaincy options – Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Faf du Plessis and Ajinkya Rahane
Uthappa could get tied up by the Pune spin-trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin and Ankit Sharma, so that rules him out. Rahane won’t make you regret not captaining him. And between Gambhir and Du Plessis, the former faces an easier bowling attack – cap Gambhir.
Bowling captaincy options – None oustanding
Andre Russell used to be an obvious pick for KKR matches, but as predicted in the last article, his role has become very limited with Umesh Yadav and Morne Morkel doing well. It is for this reason that I have not even picked him in my team.
With that being the case, I don’t see any standout options from either of these teams on a good batting wicket, so I will use my uncapped substitute Murugan Ashwin as my captain.
Nature of the deck – Flat, with the size of the ground being the only issue again.
RPSG – where the match breaks
Thisara Perera was impressive last match, but if you have followed him the last couple of years, you will know that the probability of that repeating is very low. The sooner Pune realise this and play both Mitchell Marsh and Albie Morkel, the better it will be for them.
Play Smith at No.3 – while I don’t expect anything big from him, if he has anything to offer in a T20 match, it will be while batting at No.3.
Do a CSK 2.0 at home – With a potent spin-trio up his sleeves, Dhoni should look for ways to get a slow, low deck at Pune. The top 3 of RPSG and Dhoni himself are quite adept at keeping the opposition at bay on such wickets too.
KKR – where the match breaks
How they replace Manish Pandey – It will be interesting to see how the Knight Riders plan to replace their No.3, who seemed to be in red-hot form. With their middle-order untested so far, a hole in the top 3 could turn to be quite an issue for them.
Get back Brad Hogg – Don’t get any ideas with Sunil Narine’s performance last game. He didn’t do anything exceptional; with Kings XI it’s obvious that if you bowl 4 overs, you will end up with a couple of wickets.
While giving him confidence is all well and good, it can’t come at the cost of your team’s results. With Pandey out, it’s important for the Knight Riders to strengthen their team wherever they could. Hogg can do that.
Uncapped player pick – Murugan Ashwin and Suryakumar Yadav (if he gets promoted to No. 3 today)
Since I need a bowling captain for this match, I will go with Ashwin as my uncapped pick.
Match call – If they replace Pandey well, KKR should see it through.
Note: I am not sure if I will be able to able to carry Gambhir, but since he gives me the best captaincy option for this match, I rope him in.
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