IPL 2014: Fantasy Guru - The massive Ranchi setback and the Glenn Maxwell conundrum

May 24 Update:

Guru’s team after the KXIP vs. RR match

Chennai Super Kings vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Possible inclusions:

1. Dwayne Smith
2. Chris Gayle
3. Ishwar Pandey or Yuzvendra Chahal

Matches at Bangalore have always been high-scoring affairs, which rules out any bowlers from both the sides. With Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the team, the two other players who are worth the consideration are Dwayne Smith and Chris Gayle. Yuvraj Singh has high possibilites of not getting to face any deliveries if De Villiers comes at No. 4.

Picking Dwayne depends on if the Super Kings play both Mitchell Starc and Varun Aaron. They are the two bowlers who can get him out, with their ability to extract something out of the surface in the first 6 overs at good pace. Gayle looks very good to score today, as his major threat Ravichandran Ashwin can’t be expected to get much out of this pitch. However, if Ben Hilfenhaus plays, he could easily get one through him in the early overs.

So, both these picks have their limitations, and it is something you need to decide based on the team combination.

Uncapped player pick:

I don’t rate Yogesh Takawale, and he needs to be extremely fortunate to escape the first few overs, as witnessed in all his previous matches. He has no technique, and I wonder what the Royal Challengers see in him. Both Yuzvendra Chahal and Ishwar Pandey can’t be expected to give plenty, but then you don’t have better options.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad:

Possible inclusions:

1. David Warner
2. Shikhar Dhawan or Gautam Gambhir
3. Karn Sharma

With Robin Uthappa already in my team, David Warner makes his way in, too. Both Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan look good to score a half-century at 130 SR and are worth considering. They can’t be expected to rake in points, though. The bowlers will struggle to get anything out of this surface, and hence any breakthroughs that happen need to happen early on in the innings with the new ball.

Shakib Al Hasan can be expected to be amongst points if he gets the opportunity to bat; it is something I don’t entertain, as he can’t slog pacers effectively. The Sunrisers will have Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Dale Steyn operating at the death, so he will stay out from my team for this match. Also, as I have said, bowling points don’t come easily on this deck, and the results are there for all of us to see: 0 wickets for 57 runs in the last two matches.

If you have more transfers, Sunil Narine is definitely the guy to go for. As seen in the last game, you never know when he will wreak havoc. Even if he doesn’t, he gets you 75 points anyway. I don’t think I will get him in, as he doesn’t feature in my plans, primarily because of a possible high-scoring affair on cards.

Uncapped player pick:

Karn Sharma appears to be a much safer bet than Manish Pandey, who almost always throws away his wicket and isn’t solid enough to get through the testing phases. Parvez Rasool has too many right handers to deal with.

Make sure you have a minimum of 3 transfers for the last two matches.