CLT20 2014: The Pat Cummins factor and 4-match rounds

Guru’s team if Pat Cummins isn’t picked

Hobart Hurricanes v Kings XI Punjab

Again, with the match at Mohali, this is expected to be a high-scoring affair. With Kings XI playing their second match in a 4-match round, I would love to have both Glenn Maxwell and David Miller in my team. Remember Schedule Mantra? Apply it here: the fastest a team plays its second encounter is in a 4-match round. In addition to it, I believe both of them will spend good time at the crease, as, in Ben Laughlin, Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger, the Hurricanes have the bowling attack to exploit the early assistance on the deck and take a couple of quick wickets.

Akshar Patel could be economical, but I don’t see him being amongst the wickets on this deck, while Rishi Dhawan could be taken for runs.

When it comes to the Hurricanes, Laughlin is someone who is both good upfront and at the death and so makes his way into the team. While I would have loved to have Travis Birt, he seems to be playing at No. 5 – an unusual position for his style of batting, of late, and that isn’t something rewarding with the top 4 of Ben Dunk, Tim Paine, Jonathan Wells and Shoaib Malik expected to take lion’s share of the strike. Malik could bowl, ended the Caribbean Premier League 2014 campaign as the second leading run-getter, bats at the top and is playing on supportive conditions: enough to get him in.

Ben Dunk couldn’t repeat his Big Bash 2014 heroics with Mumbai Indians, even on batting-friendly conditions. But with Sandeep Sharma not playing for Kings XI, Dunk could be up against a below-par bowling unit and could cash in on it. Also, that he comes in at just 700,000 and helps in balancing my team works in his favour.

Captaincy pick: Glenn Maxwell or Shoaib Malik

Northern Knights v Cape Cobras

With 9 slots filled by the four teams from the first two fixtures, I rope in Northern Knights’ players Trent Boult and Kane Williamson to fill up the squad, as the team plays the third fixture of the tournament main, against Cape Cobras. Cobras don’t really have a player whom you could bank on within the remaining budget. Hashim Amla takes 900,000 from your budget, while JP Duminy leaves a dent worth 1,050,000.

Duminy would be someone I would surely draft in ahead of the match. More on that will be discussed in the next article. As of now, while assembling a playing 11 for the first two matches, I don’t see him getting in with that price tag of his. Amla had a phenomenal Ram Slam T20 tournament – 317 runs in 8 matches at an average of 45.28 and a strike-rate of 143.43 – and proved that it was no fluke with South Africa in the T20 World Cup that followed – 185 in 5 matches at an average of 37 and at a strike-rate of 131.20. It would be fine. Never have I thought that one day I would be taking Amla in my T20 fantasy team, but times change, you see. Both the Africans can wait for now, though.

Probable last minute changes

If Cummins doesn’t play, Smith would be the first player to walk in to my team. And that requires some chopping and changing: Kane Williamson and Cummins out, Dwayne and Akshar in.