IPL 2018 Fantasy Guru: What your team should look like for KKR vs RR

Subs used – 0; Subs remaining – 10

(Uncapped trick employed) Siddarth Kaul out – Mayank Markande in

Uncapped preference order: Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham, Prasidh Krishna

Captain – Jofra Archer (if RR bowl first)/ Jos Buttler (if RR bat first)

Captaincy preference order: Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell

Differentials: Sanju Samson (if he bats at No.3) and Chris Lynn

Multipliers remaining – 1

Guru’s team ahead of KKR vs RR: J Buttler, V Kohli, AB de Villiers, L Rahul, C Gayle, K Pandya, J Bumrah, N Rana, J Archer, K Gowtham, M Markande

With Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Krishnappa Gowtham already in my team, I have the Rajasthan Royals side of things covered for this match. Sanju Samson is the only other Royals player that I am interested in, but Ajinkya Rahane batting at No.3 reduces the fantasy potential of the 23-year-old.

Buttler will face a stern test today with a couple of wrist spinners and Sunil Narine in the opposition and bigger boundaries to clear, but Eden Gardens being one of the best batting wickets this season evens up the scene and hence I wouldn’t be surprised to see him making it six half-centuries in a row.

I had a decision to make between dropping Archer and Andre Russell yesterday, and the England pace bowler being a threat to every single Kolkata Knight Riders batsman in play made me lean towards him.

From KKR, courtesy their all-round value, Narine and Russell are obviously the two best bets, but with them playing next only after a span of four matches, I can’t carry them forward. Therefore, I have decided to keep them out and hope Archer helps in limiting the damage. Gowtham’s off-spin to Narine and Stokes’s pace to Russell will also come in handy.