MS Dhoni and CSK travel to the famed Eden Gardens for their clash against the ever efficient KKR side.
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Both teams find themselves in the mix for a playoff spot and a win tonight could help them move a little away from the mid table rut.
While CSK already find themselves away from it(as the lead the standings), a win tonight could bump them up to 14 points and almost help confirm their qualification for the playoff stage.
KKR are well and truly in that mid table clutter and wouldn’t want to waste a lot of their time trying to struggle in there and create panic within the team setup.
Dinesh Karthik has marshalled his troops quite admirably this season and would be hoping for a strong performance from his boys in front of the passionate Eden crowd.
CSK and Dhoni have struggled a bit with their bowling unit in the last few games and Dhoni had made it very clear in the last game that they needed to correct that or else the business end of the tournament could turn out to be problematic for them.
Let’s get to business now!
IPL Fantasy League(Fantasy Tips for KKR vs CSK)
Transfer out: Jofra Archer, Prithvi Shaw
Transfer in: Ambati Rayudu/DJ Bravo, Nitish Rana/KM Asif
Now, I already have Suresh Raina, Shane Watson and Sunil Narine in my side for this game.
CSK play twice in the next 3 games and hence I would like to draft in at least one more CSK player in my squad.
Ambati Rayudu, DJ Bravo and MS Dhoni are the three CSK players in my consideration set for this game.
MS Dhoni has been in excellent form this season with the bat, taking the bowlers to the cleaners right from the word go. He could tee of tonight as well, but I expect the spin trio of PC, Kuldeep and Narine to keep a check on the free flowing former India captain.
Dhoni has been susceptible to good quality spin in the last 18 months and could find himself searching for answers against the highly skilled spin-bowling unit of KKR. Hence I leave out MS.
Also, he most likely will bat at number 5, with Rayudu being slotted into that number 4 role from now on. I wouldn’t want to wait for 3 CSK wickets to fall before the arrival of MS Dhoni and hence the new CSK batting order puts me off further.
Now, who do you get in between Rayudu and Bravo. On current form, Rayudu is the safer option as he has been smacking the bowlers at will in this edition.
He can take the spinners on during the middle overs and can also use the long handle towards the death.
Bravo has been off-colour in the last few games, but you can’t rule Bravo out, especially from a fantasy perspective, as he can get those 3 wicket hauls at the death with his dipping slower ones.
Verdict: I’ll get in Rayudu, if CSK bat first and Bravo in if CSK bowl first.
I wouldn’t be bringing in any KKR players into my side because of the paucity of transfers.
However, Russell seems like a good option, especially after he has started bowling a bit.
For the uncapped player, I’ll be getting in Nitish Rana, if he plays as a few reports suggest that he might not play today’s fixture.
If he doesn’t, get in the fast bowling KM Asif.
Fandromeda(Fantasy Tips for KKR vs CSK)
Transfer out: Ben Stokes, Glenn Maxwell
Transfer in: Andre Russell, Suresh Raina/DJ Bravo
Now, I already have Ambati Rayudu, Sunil Narine and Shane Watson in my team for this game.
Andre Russell would be the first player that I get into my side for this game. Russell could be a real differentiating factor in this game, as he has started bowling a considerable amount of overs once again for KKR.
His lower order batting skills were never in doubt, but I was leaving him out in the last few games as his all-round abilities were not being used to the fullest.
The second player that I get in will be one from Raina and Bravo, depending on what CSK does in the first innings. If CSK bat first, get in Raina, else go in with Bravo.
If you want to play it safe, you could go in with Raina, as Bravo just might get dropped if he doesn’t perform well today.
Batting Powerplayer- Ambati Rayudu/Suresh Raina
Bowling Powerplayer- Sunil Narine
