IPL 2014: Fantasy Guru - Go for Glory

Chennai Super Kings vs. Rajasthan Royals:

Guru’s team for the RR vs. CSK match

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 29

Praveen Kumar out – Ravindra Jadeja inKarn Sharma out – Rajat Bhatia inCaptain – Ravindra Jadeja/Pravin Tambe/Suresh Raina

Having applied the Schedule Mantra before, Rajasthan side of it is done. Dwayne Smith had a terrible last game at Ranchi against the Kolkata Knight Riders, and I expect that to repeat again, as the pitch at the venue provides considerable assistance to the spinners.

However, MS Dhoni was not exactly pleased with the track, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be flat this time. Hence, it is better to wait for the pitch report before deciding on whether or not to include the CSK openers.

If it is expected to turn, the trio of Royals’ slow bowlers – Pravin Tambe, Rajat Bhatia and Rahul Tewatia – will make life miserable for the dashing duo, who have relished playing on pitches where the ball has come on to the bat, so far.

The Super Kings’ fortunes in this match depend largely on MS Dhoni’s contributions with the bat, but what prevents me from picking him is the fear of him promoting Ravindra Jadeja or Mithun Manhas and ending up with lesser balls to face.

Ajinkya Rahane can easily steer himself to a 40-ball 50, while Shane Watson will be put through acid test against the spin of Ashwin and Jadeja. Steve Smith could be the decisive factor on this deck, and some big hits from Stuart Binny could be on store, too.

If the opening pair of Rahane and Karun Nair are dismissed, the CSK spin duo can boss the game and swing it in their team’s favour. Both the openers, however, will be the key if the Royals’ bat second. It is not easy to pick between them, but Jadeja’s chances of batting higher up the order on a difficult wicket and the slew of right handers in the Royals’ top order makes me pick him ahead of Ashwin.

Uncapped player pick:

With Tambe and Samson in the team, I would most probably go in with one of the Royals’ slow bowlers – Bhatia/Tewatia/Iqbal Abdulla.

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Delhi Daredevils:

Guru’s match for the DD vs. RCB match

Transfers made – 3; Transfers remaining – 26

Suresh Raina out – Kevin Pietersen inAjinkya Rahane out – Dinesh Karthik inShane Watson out – AB de Villiers inCaptain – AB de Villiers/Kevin Pietersen

I am done with Virat Kohli, finally.

Even after ruling both sets of bowlers out, this is a tricky encounter. Chris Gayle, Ab de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, Quinton de Kock, Kevin Pietersen, Dinesh Karthik and JP Duminy: all of them have the potential to make it big. However, we can’t pick all or even most of them for obvious reasons. So, you have to eliminate and pick the rest who have the best probability to give more points.

Duminy – Can bat low and not get enough deliveries – outDe Kock – Hasn’t yet shown his ability to play a big knock and the threat of Yuzvendra Chahal looms big – outGayle - Siddarth Kaul, if he pitches it up more, Rahul Shukla’s extra bounce and Imran Tahir’ googly: all have the ability to get rid of the big West Indian – out.

Delhi fit the 4-match round, so I take both Pietersen and Dinesh Karthik in, the former for showing signs of returning back to form and with the only major threat being Chahal and the latter, as KP has moved up top, thereby making him the mainstay in the middle order.

You can’t select both De Villiers and Yuvraj as they bat at similar positions and RCB play their second fixture only after a span of 4 matches, so I go with AB de Villiers for 3 reasons: Out-of-form top 3; Parthiv Patel, who eats too many deliveries up the order, moving down; and him coming in at No. 4, ahead of Yuvraj, regularly now. De Villiers is more assured than Yuvraj, too.

Uncapped player pick:

While both Rahul Shukla and Siddarth Kaul can chip in with a couple of wickets, they have the threat of leaking too many at the death. Mayank Agarwal at No. 3 is a gamble, but one which is worth it with the shorter boundaries.