Gautam Gambhir is turning out to be the best captain India never had. Taking shrewd decisions, propelling intensity and tailoring KKRs strengths with respect to the opposition’s weakness has made him the most able captain in the event. Every game he either comes up with a selection surprise, a mind boggling batting order change or that cheeky little short leg in to put off all plans that the opposition might have come up with. And with all his plans working to perfection until now, there has to be a well thought off method to this genius.
Robin Uthappa has repaid the faith put in him by the KKR management despite him not having the best of seasons for the Karnataka Ranji team. When he was initially pushed away from the openers slot, it felt as if Uthappa wasn’t going to be a season long player for KKR. But the way he smacked Tahir to all corners last night, is more than an indication that Uthappa is here to stay for a long, long time.
Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi once again got RPS off to a solid start, but for the umpteenth time, neither of them could really kick on. For Steve Smith, it was just another day at the office, with the bat flowing seamlessly and the ball obeying the master throughout. MS Dhoni greeted everyone with that usual late order flurry and RPS were able to put up an above par score.
Every time you feel that KKR would bundle under pressure, Gambhir leads the charge from the front. Narine got run out to a moment of genius from Dhoni, but it was the Uthappa-Gambhir show that took over after that. Spinners being dismantled, pacers being caressed through covers and critics being taken for a ride.
With KKR finding new heroes every time they take the field, oppositions are going to find it very tough to make plans to stop this win riot.
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Lions
Two teams that boast of mass destructors of the cricket ball take on each other in what is traditionally known as a batting paradise in Indian cricket. RCB have always scored big against Gujarat Lions, scoring 180, 248 and 213 in their last 3 encounters. And with GLs strong batting line up you can expect this one to be a very high scoring one, provided the rain stays away.
The forecast is for some intermittent showers, but in all probability, they should stay away for a large part of the game.
So, I am going to be trusting the met department to have done their work properly, and go ahead with my normal substitutions for this game.
Let’s get to business now!
IPL Fantasy League Fantasy Tips on the next page
IPL Fantasy League
Transfer out: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi
Transfer in: Suresh Raina, Shubham Agarwal
Now, I already have Virat Kohli, ABD and Yuzi Chahal in my team for this game.
Virat and ABD haven’t really set the IPL on fire as of now, but when the chips are down it is the great players that propel themselves to rise from the dead. You can expect these two stalwarts to set the stage on fire tonight.
Gujarat Lions don’t play again until Saturday night and thus I will get in just one from their side.
Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch and Dwayne Smith don’t find a spot in my side because of the leg spin duo of Yuzi Chahal and Samuel Badree in the RCB side. None of these three play leg spin that well and with the added threat of Negi, I would leave all three of them out. Also, despite McCullum’s form this season, I’ll always be against opting for him or rather all three of them, because you never really know which one of these three will fire on a given day.
I’ll be bringing in Suresh Raina for this game. The spin trio of Negi-Badree-Chahal wouldn’t pose much of a threat to Raina as the ball will be turning into him and the other RCB bowlers don’t pose much of a threat to him.As far as batting is concerned, he is your best bet.
Andrew Tye could be another good pick for this game but with almost all my overseas players featuring in the games today or tomorrow, I wouldn’t want to waste a transfer here, especially after Tye’s no show against RCB in the previous encounter.
For the uncapped player I’ll be getting in Shubham Agarwal into my team, as there is no other uncapped player worth 600,000 that I can draft into my side .
Captain: Virat Kohli(if RCB bat second)/ABD(if RCB bat first)
Fandromeda Tips on the next page:
Fandromeda
Transfer out: Ajinkya Rahane, Imran Tahir
Transfer in: Suresh Raina, Andrew Tye
Now, I already have Virat, ABD and Yuzi Chahal in my side for this game.
Again, the first player that I’ll be getting in is Suresh Raina, for reasons already mentioned in the IPL Fantasy League section. As far as the GL batting is concerned, he is your safest bet.
Now, if you have a lot of transfers in the kitty, you can get in Andrew Tye for Imran Tahir, as Tahir hasn’t really fired in the last few games.
Batting Star: Virat Kohli(if RCB bat second)/ABD(if RCB bat first)
Bowling Star: Yuzi Chahal(if RCB bowl first)/Andrew Tye(if GL bowl first)
