Fate plays a huge role in sport. The most you can do is prepare yourself for the worst, because when fate takes over even superheroes are rendered useless.
Virat Kohli and co. will be questioning their stars as rain played spoil sport for the umpteenth time at the Chinnaswamy, this time causing RCB to win all of their remaining games to stay in contention for that playoff spot. After the humiliation suffered at the hands of KKR, RCB would have been itching to take the field in order to right their wrongs. But there is only so much you can do when the rain gods take centre stage.
SRH, on the other hand wouldn’t mind this washout as it helps them cement their place in the top 4.
RCB now are in a similar situation as last year, but as Kohli said, it would be very hard to replicate last year’s final push. Only if the big 3 can pull out a rabbit from the hat. It’s going to be a tantalising last leg for the RCB fans, but then isn’t that the thrill of watching sport?
Rising Pune Supergiant vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Two teams that are high on victory right now, having pulled off improbable wins in their last outing. Kolkata Knight Riders managed to defend a modest total of 131 against arguably the best batting line up of IPL 2017, bowling them out for a meagre 49 and winning the game by 82 runs. Gautam Gambhir’s shrewd captaincy, his brave decision and his infectious intensity rubbed off on all KKR players, who put up one of the most spirited performances that this event had ever witnessed.
RPS on the other hand were able to act as a roadblock for the high flying(speeding) Mumbai Indians, beating them at Wankhede on Sachin’s birthday. With MS Dhoni and Ben Stokes finally coming to the fore, RPS look a much more daunting unit now.
KKR would be hoping to replicate their previous game bowling performance, while on the batting side they would be hoping for major overhaul from their last game’s performance. At least two from Uthappa, Gambhir, Pandey and Pathan need to get a scrore in excess of 40 to help them reach an above par score, everytime they fail to do that, their ‘bits and pieces’ players fail to carry the side along.
RPS need to manage Manoj Tiwary a little better and maybe send him at number 4 once, as he has been brilliant with the bat in the limited opportunities that he has received this season.
Let’s get to business now!
IPL Fantasy League Fantasy Tips on the next page
Rising Pune Supergiant vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Transfer out: Jos Buttler, Shubham Agarwal
Transfer in: Sunil Narine, Rahul Tripathi
Note: Despite the rain I did go in with one change for the match and that was getting in Yuzi Chahal, as even if the match had gotten washed out, wouldn’t hurt me much as RCB play another game tomorrow. I did not get in David Warner though
The IPL Fantasy allows you to lock in your teams before the first ball of the game is bowled, so I would advise you to stay glued to the site on rain days, or risk losing out on a few crucial transfers.
Now, I already have Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes and Kuldeep Yadav in my side for this game.
I would be bringing in another KKR player into my side for this game as KKR play twice in 3 days and hence I can use that player for 2 games, as opposed to the one game that a RPS player would offer me.
Sunil Narine is the first player that I bring into my team for this game. Opening the batting and bowling 4 overs on a consistent basis is enough to warrant him a place in my side. RPS do not have a very threatening new ball attack and with the form Narine is in, I would bank on him to score a quickfire 30 against DD as well. Get him in!
I leave out Tahir and Steve Smith primarily because RPS do not play a game until Saturday afternoon(with there being two games on Friday), and as I can get in only one overseas player, Narine seems the better pick.
Gambhir and Uthappa have been amongst the runs but it’s the consistency that has been lacking. You can’t really tell when one of them would tee off and I can’t afford to flirt with such inconsistency at this stage of the tournament.
For the uncapped player I get in Rahul Tripathi. Tripathi has been providing quick fire starts to RPS ever since he has been drafted into the XI. He could get off to a flyer today as well, with the Pune surface not offering much assistance to the bowlers. Washington Sundar could be your second choice uncapped player provided your team combination does not allow you to get in Tripathi.
Captain: Sunil Narine/Ben Stokes(whoever bowls first)
Fandromeda Tips on the next page:
Fandromeda
Transfer out: Jos Buttler, Krunal Pandya
Transfer in: Sunil Narine, Manish Pandey
Fandromeda has been kind enough to help us revert back to our previous squads, as yesterday’s game had been abandoned. If only the BCCI was so accommodating.
Now, I already have Ajinkya Rahane, Imran Tahir, Kuldeep Yadav and Steve Smith in my side for this game.
With KKR playing twice in 3 days, it only makes sense to draft in at least two players from their team into my side.
The first player that I get into my side is Sunil Narine. While most would argue that his bowling skills are on the wane, he has been extremely efficient with the ball, picking up the odd wicket and bowling extremely miserly. His batting skills though have been unleashed big time this year and that is what makes him an indispensable part of KKRs as well as my unit. Get him in.
The second player that I’ll be getting in Manish Pandey. He has been in excellent touch this season and has looked the most assured amongst all KKR batsman. I pick him over Gautam Gambhir as Pandey plays at a much quicker pace is able to launch big during the middle and death overs.
I wanted to draft Gambhir into my side as well but my team combination does not allow me to do that. Now, you could argue that Pandey would be operating when Tahir is into the attack, something that might limit his scoring chances, but with the form that he is in, I would still prefer Pandey over Gambhir. It’s more or less a 50-50 call, it could come to haunt you back, but you need to make these brave calls.
Batting Star: Steve Smith/Manish Pandey(whoever bats first)
Bowling Star: Imran Tahir/Kuldeep Yadav(whoever bowls first)
Happy team picking
