It is always a challenge to pick the best set of players for a fantasy when you have just 60,000 rupees to spend for a game that involves many big names. As Gujarat Lions gear up to face the Mumbai Indians on a wicket that is expected to behave in similar fashion like it did in the Lions’ previous game against the Knight Riders, you will have to be careful with the choices you make. Managing the cost of the line-up is going to be very crucial in this game more than the rest. Here’s an analysis on the best picks:
Batsmen:
The respective skippers Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina should earn automatic call-ups to the side even though they would cost you a combined amount of 18.500 rupees. That would also mean that the rest of the seven players will have to be filled for 41,500 rupees. It is quite impossible to leave out one among Rohit and Raina. The Mumbai Indians skipper has had a tremendous season and is known to be at his best in such crucial must-win encounters. Raina, who has had a quite season by his standards, finally came up with a good knock in the last game and ignoring him would be huge gamble.
You will anyway have to take a gamble by not picking either Dwayne Smith or Brendon McCullum in the squad since they are a set of costly players. Ideally, leaving out the former New Zealand skipper would make more sense considering the fact that he hasn’t been consistent with the bat this season. Smith’s bowling which came in handy for the Lions in the last game can prove to be a huge asset so picking him would be ideal. Using the flexible player option, you can go for someone like Aaron Finch who is the most consistent middle order batsman from side. He may get plenty of overs to bat as well if suppose the Lions lose their top order soon on a green top.
Wicket-keeper batsman:
It comes down to Jos Buttler and Dinesh Karthik and quite surprisingly, the Indian wicket-keeper should be the one preferred to the English keeper because of the way those two have performed this season. Karthik has come up with some crucial knocks for his side whereas Buttler has floundered unexpectedly in his debut IPL season except for a couple of cameos. Karthik is also fairly cheaper as he costs 1000 bucks lesser. Eklavya Dwivedi might get another game for the Lions but he may not get to bat at all, so that’s a gamble which you should be ideally avoiding.
All-rounder:
It will be Krunal Pandya vs Kieron Pollard vs Dwayne Bravo vs Ravindra Jadeja for that single all-rounder spot. Personally, my vote is for Krunal and he will also cost you only 3500 bucks despite his exploits this season. The rest from that list have all been far too inconsistent but Krunal has been excellent with both bat and ball whenever he has had opportunities. He also made 87 in the last game and he will once again be a key member in this crucial tie. Bravo at a value of 10,000 rupees is the costliest player available from both the rosters but picking him would prove to be a huge gamble which you might even go on to regret.
Bowlers:
The user will have to take a gamble from the bowling department in order to be cost effective. Plenty of big buys have already been made so you cannot afford to go big on the market yet again for the bowlers. You can still go on to pick the highest wicket-taker of the tournament, Mitchell McClenaghan, who is valued at 7000 rupees but will have to do with Vinay Kumar as one of the other picks. It can prove to be a gamble that might work in your favour massively especially since Vinay has the ability to move the ball both ways on a helpful surface. From the Lions, Praveen Kumar and Dhawal Kulkarni are your options. The two new ball bowlers are valued at 6000 rupees and one of them can be chosen to lead your attack.
My ideal team: Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik, Aaron Finch, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Vinay Kumar and Praveen Kumar.
DISCLAIMER: The article just contains suggestions and Sportskeeda are not responsible or liable for the outcome.
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