IPL Fantasy League 2016 Tips: MI vs SRH and KKR vs GL

Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

Transfers made – 2; Transfers remaining – 32

Hashim Amla out – Rohit Sharma in

Mohit Sharma out – Jasprit Bumrah in

KC Cariappa out – Krunal Pandya in

Batting captain/Full match captain – David Warner

Bowling captain – Jasrprit Bumrah (if MI bowl first)/ Mustafizur Rahman (if SRH bowl first)

Note: Hashim Amla was taken in as a double match player considering he would open the innings, but the KXIP think-tank struck again by playing him at one down. While one of the two openers could very well get out in the first over against RCB and Amla could come in earlier and score a century, I am not banking on ‘hope’, as I have never played the game that way.

Batting captaincy options – David Warner and Rohit Sharma

With two of the best bowling attacks on show today, captaining Warner or Rohit wouldn’t be as straightforward as it has been in the tournament so far. Rohit has to deal with Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s swing up front and then Mustafizur Rahman at the death; Warner, on the other hand, has Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah to contend with, and if the pitches assists spin, Harbhajan Singh comes into play as well.

Between the two, Warner looks a safe bet to me, as he neither has to deal with mystery nor swing.

Bowling captaincy options – Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman

I can’t get McClenaghan into my team, so he is ruled out. With two proper death bowlers in contention, Bhuvneshwar Kumar goes out of the equation as well.

Bumrah vs Mustafizur – With two suspect batting units, I expect the chasing team to have an advantage in this match, so follow the fantasy classic: the bowler from the team that bowls first.

Nature of the deck – Unknown

Uncapped player order – Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda

MI – Fantasy Clinchers

If Mumbai bat first, today could be the day they will pay for their obsession with Tim Southee. At the moment, I don’t believe they have a batting line-up that can win titles.

This season, Rohit has taken on the role of seeing through matches. From the fantasy perspective, this is what I refer to as ‘gold standard’. While he might not be able to get the really big scores, I have no reasons to complain when he can be so dependable. However, this role of him has led to a few tense finishes and a loss already.

SRH – Fantasy Clinchers

Warner usually plays an insanely aggressive game in IPL, but doing so against McClenaghan and Bumrah can backfire badly today. He needs to tone down and be selective to succeed.

The Sunrisers’ batting order still looks very lean, but 8 out of 10 times they should be able to post/chase to their bowling unit’s ability. The key to doing that is the form of Moises Henriques and the class of Kane Williamson, both of which are on their side now.

Dhawan has been getting these cheap runs in easy chases to hold onto this place. I really don’t see much sense in that. Deepak Hooda, on the other hand, needs to raise his game as well.

Match call – The side that bowls first has the upper hand.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Lions

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 31

Ajinkya Rahane out – Andre Russell in

Krunal Pandya out – Shivil Kaushik in

Batting captain/Full match captain – Robin Uthappa/ Gautam Gambhir (GL spin trio case)

Bowling captain – Andre Russell

KKR vs GL

Batting captaincy options – Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Dwayne Smith

I have discussed enough about why I wouldn’t trust Pandey with an in-form opening pair. Smith has the extra pace of Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav to deal with; to get through them, he needs to be exceptionally good. I don’t think that’s a risk worth taking with Lions playing their second after 5 matches.

I am inclined to Uthappa now, as Gambhir can’t be carried to his next match. Unless the Lions triple their spin threat by bring in Pravin Tambe as well, it should remain the same.

Finch playing as a finisher will not always have the luck he had against the Sunrisers in his last game.

Bowling captaincy options – Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell

Russell’s potential remains the same irrespective of what happens at the toss, as the Knight Riders are clear favourites to win this fixture. Bravo’s, on the other hand, decreases considerably if the Lions bat first. Also, what makes Russell even more dependable is his batting. Having played and practiced with Bravo all through his career, there is no real threat for him in this match.

Now I don’t need to tell you who I would go with, do I?

Nature of the deck – If the last match is any indicator, it would be a little slow, but still good for batting

Uncapped player order – Shivil Kaushik, Pravin Tambe, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav

KKR – Fantasy Clinchers

The presence of a local left-arm chinaman in their team might tempt them to think about dropping Brad Hogg in favour of Colin Munro. They could compensate for that by bringing in Kuldeep Yadav for Umesh Yadav, who has been leaking plenty in the last two matches. With Russell finding his groove back and Morne Morkel in the side, they wouldn’t need Umesh at the death too.

Yusuf Pathan seems to be ahead in Gautam Gambhir’s go-to players list, but they will do well to promote Russell today as he can handle Bravo a lot better than any of them in their team.

GL – Fantasy Clinchers

Gujarat Lions, simply put, are running out of gas. I don’t really think they came into the season as one of the favourites; if anything, they did exceptionally well to utilise all the resources they had instead of complaining about the lack of it like MS Dhoni and Rising Pune Supergiants did.

Now that all of it is done, the lack of clutch players, especially batsmen, is hurting them. Bravo is the only player in the team that can win 50-50 situatiions, and that too just with the ball.

Their only realistic chance in the remaining matches is against Royal Challengers Bangalore. My bet is on them crashing out of the top 4. It shouldn’t, however, take any credit away from how well they have adapted to the league so far.

Match call – KKR all the way.