IPL 2014: Fantasy Guru - Keep calm and trust Schedule Mantra

You may have noticed that although Kings 11 had 2 matches in a 3-match round, I wasn’t getting in players like Virender Sehwag and Mitchell Johnson into my team. It doesn’t mean that just because a team plays two matches in a short span, you can get in any random player ahead of a star, which is how it has been understood by a few: it is still based on the ability, certainty and the probability of the player making any impact.

I kept Duminy out because he bats too low and has the probability of facing Ravichandran Ashwin, who can get the better of him. It was not illogical. I wouldn’t do it to Warner this time around, as he bats in the top 3 and has no real speed breakers on his way to make a big score against the Punjab-based franchise. Even in the example I had given in the last article, it was Mishra over Sunil Narine and not, say, Ravindra Jadeja over Narine. There is a subtle difference, and I hope you get it. It needs expertise to employ it the right way.

Uncapped player:

The uncapped player pick for this match is a bit tricky: Lokesh Rahul at 4 is worth it, but Sammy can get promoted if two of Warner, Finch and Dhawan bat 13 odd overs out, which is very likely to happen given the standard of Kings 11 bowling. Akshar is sure to get carted, while Karan Sharma doesn’t have much scope, too. The only other option is to pick a player from the next match, i.e., Rajasthan Royals vs. Chennai Super Kings. Since we already have 3 uncapped players from that team, it is ruled out, as well. So I have to make a call among Rahul, Karan and Akshar, and I go in with Rahul, in the hope that he two of Sunrisers wickets fall in the first 10 overs.

Chennai Super Kings vs. Rajasthan Royals:

Guru’s team for the Chennai Super Kings vs. Rajasthan Royals match

Transfers made – 0; Transfers remaining – 61

Dhawal Kulkarni in – Lokesh Rahul outCaptain – Suresh Raina

The Super Kings are playing their second match in a 3-match round, which means all the picks that were made before were done keeping in mind the same. While I was very much tempted to have Ben Hilfenhaus ahead of the Delhi Daredevils match, I went against it after much thinking, as I was not sure of how he would be used with two very similar bowlers in Ishwar and Mohit Sharma in the team. As I predicted, Dhoni threw a surprise by bowling him only once in the first 6 overs, thereby nullifying his potent weapon: swing.

If he plans to use him this way, Samuel Badree will be a much better option, as the Australian quickie is poor at death.

Rajasthan Royals:

While the option of taking Watson back in is an enticing one, given the form that Ashwin finds himself in and the possibility of him bowling in tandem with Jadeja to the Australian big hitter keeps me away from taking the risk. While it would have been preposterous to judge that Watson wouldn’t bowl after the first match against Sunrisers, it is now evident, from the fixture against Kings 11 Punjab, that he has opted to stay away from bowling for reasons better known to him.

I don’t buy into this theory of him not bowling due to the captaincy pressure. Also, the team management would deprive them of the biggest asset they have if they opt to go this way of shielding him from bowling.

Uncapped players:

Regarding uncapped players, Dhawal Kulkarni will slot in ahead of Lokesh Rahul. He is picked ahead of Pravin Tambe, as the 42-year-old leg-spinner is likely to lock horns with Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, who are quite adept at handling him, while Kulkarni can swing both Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum out.

The need for the concept of ‘toss trick’, a unique concept which even the best of fantasy players won’t be aware of, hasn’t come in this edition of IPL, yet. I hope I see the need for it, so that I can bring it into light.

Till then, Keep calm and trust the schedule mantra.

Update 1: 7.45 pm, April 22 – No extra changes or alterations for the KXIP vs. SRH match.

Update 2: 7.53 pm, April 23 – No extra changes or alterations for the RR vs. CSK match.