IPL 2018 Fantasy Guru: What your team should look like for KXIP vs SRH

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Virat Kohli out - Shikhar Dhawan in

(Uncapped) Rahul Tripathi out – Mayank Agarwal in

Uncapped preference order: Siddarth Kaul, Mayank Agarwal, Deepak Hooda

Captain – Shikhar Dhawan

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Guru’s team ahead of KXIP vs SRH: M Agarwal, S Dhawan, L Rahul, R Uthappa, N Rana, S Samson, B Stokes, A Russell, S Narine, M Markande, S Kaul

KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are easily the three standout fantasy picks for this match. With Rahul already in, all I have to do today is decide on the other two.

One thing is for sure: I can’t bring both of them in, as Sunrisers Hyderabad play next only after a gap of three matches, which is two more than an ideal two-match Schedule Mantra round. It will also interfere with the plans I have in mind for the phasing out of Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals players in my team.

SRH's batting unit looks shaky, so if they bat first, something that they have not done so far in the tournament, there is a decent chance that Kings XI Punjab could be chasing as a below-par target in the range of 150-160, which could have a telling impact on Bhuvneshwar Kumar's fantasy potential.

On the other hand, if they bat second, the Match PP and Second Innings PP rule gives me no option but to pick Shikhar Dhawan, as I will be needing a powerplayer who features in the second half of the game. Besides, you can always gamble on a bowler not taking wickets, but not on an in-form opening batsman.

Keeping all these factors in mind, I have decided to go with Dhawan. And as long as Bhuvneshwar doesn’t pick more than a couple of wickets, I would be happy with it. Mujeeb Zadran, Billy Stanlake, Rashid Khan and Shakib Al Hasan should all give you steady returns, but I am looking for something more than that.

Aaron Finch will soon be amongst the runs, but this is one bowling attack against which you wouldn’t want to back him. There has to be an early wicket for Kane Williamson to come into play, as he is the sort of player who needs powerplay restrictions to do well in T20.

Siddarth Kaul is a better uncapped pick than Mayank Agarwal, who will be facing a bowling attack that is a class or two above his standards. The bowling attack of the Sunrisers is also the reason why I haven’t really considered Chris Gayle.

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