Four things you should avoid while picking Fantasy IPL XI

The 2018 edition of the Indian Premier League is in full swing with a plethora of matches going down to the wire.

In a country obsessed with cricket, Fantasy Cricket has captured the imagination of the fans, enabling them to read the basic sub-plots that a match offers.

However, while selecting your Fantasy XI, there are certain things that you need to keep in mind, that will be you in good stead amongst your contemporaries.

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Here's a look at the four things that one must keep in mind while selecting Fantasy IPL XI:

4) The “wildcard” trap

The Wildcard Trap

When I say do not fall into the differentiator’s trap, it implies that we often see people forming their respective XI with players that not many would have picked, in a bid to form a different team.

While taking a few ‘Wild Card’ cricketers is good, we should first go in with tried and tested players, or else you’ll fall far behind the 8-ball game.

3) Putting a significant amount of money on the lower-middle order batting

Do not put significant money on lower-order batsmen.

The Top-3 batsman rule in T20 cricket and their chances of making a significant contribution to a teams total is far more than the middle and lower order.

Hence there’s no point in opting for a batsman who comes too late into the innings and has only a handful of balls to face.

2) Do not overlook the pitch conditions

Pitch conditions play a crucial role.

While keeping track of the Playing XI is necessary, it is equally important to analyze the pitch conditions under which the match is going to be played.

Typically the official pitch report comes in 45 minutes before the start of the game, but it is advisable to analyze the last five matches that have previously been played on the track. The analysis as to how the wicket has played in the recent past will give you a fair idea of the players that can suit the given conditions.

1) Picking players based on reputation

Do not pick players based on reputation.

Often while selecting a fantasy team, we tend to take players based on their reputation, their past-heroics and the super-stardom their name carries. But as we have seen in the IPL, a plethora of superstar players bench the dug-out for a better part of the season sometimes, Dale Steyn sat out for the entire 2016 season while playing for Gujarat Lions.

Hence, while making a fantasy team, one must keep in mind the player’s form, team combinations as well as the playing conditions (read; pitch).