The final week is all you play for, this is what it comes down to after a gruelling league stage comprising of 56 games.
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4 games and we’ll know who the IPL 2018 Champions are, and while the equation seems pretty clearly laid out for all teams, you need to take ‘anxiety’ into consideration when you come to the business end of the tournament.
Anxiety causes chaos, it causes the entropy in the system to rise, forces people to do things out of the ordinary just to get rid of the restlessness that creeps into the setup.
Individuals who conquer anxiety are the ones who are able to fight the opposition head on, all others are left fighting anxiety itself, leaving no room to focus on the opponent.
The one who deals with anxiety better will flourish, the one who doesn’t, will stumble. And flourishing in these big games is what separates the great from the good.
Who do you think is better equipped to handle anxiety? Place your bets on that team tonight because skill often takes the backseat in crunch encounters.
CSK have been in the playoffs everytime that they have featured in the IPL and that should account for something tonight, as they know how to play and thrive in pressure situations.
SRH too have been in playoff situations in the last few seasons but their experience is minimal when you compare it to CSK’s.
Also, SRH have lost their last 3 games and are a little short on confidence coming into the playoffs, not having finished off games in the latter half of the league stage.
SRH’s inability to finish off games during the dying stages of the league games could mean that they could buckle under pressure.
Let’s get to business now!
IPL Fantasy League(Fantasy Tips for SRH vs CSK Qualifier)
Four games, Ten substitutions; the playoff stage allows us to make 3.33 substitutions per game.
Now, the basic strategy is to not stack up your team with players from one team itself, as group stage form does not necessarily translate into good playoff performances.
I’ll be bringing in 8 or 9 players from this game, as I want to ensure that I spread my players out in these 4 games and not necessarily save a few spots today and play 11 players in the last two games.
I’ll get in the usual suspects first.
Kane Williamson, Shikhar Dhawan and Rashid Khan would be my first 3 picks for today.
Williamson and Dhawan are the best batting options available from that SRH batting unit and hence need to be drafted in.
Rashid Khan has been a revelation for SRH this year, once again bamboozling the batsmen with his trickery and picking up wickets during that crucial middle phase.
Let’s now switch to the ‘CSK usual suspects’ now, with Rayudu slotting in right away, courtesy the form that he has been in all through the tournament.
Suresh Raina would be my second pick from the CSK side, despite his inconsistent form in IPL 2018. Raina has scored 636 runs in playoff games and has a healthy average of 45.36.
Raina is a big game player, get him in!
MS Dhoni would be the 3rd CSK player that I get into my side for this game. Amongst the wicketkeeping options available, MS Dhoni seems like the best option, one because of his form and two because of his batting position(which is the highest amongst all keeping options).
Now, for the 4th and 5th CSK options, I would get in Watson and Bravo into my side, both all-rounders, both experienced blokes and both made for the big occasion.
They have blown hot and cold this season but when the big day arrives, the big players step up. Get the duo in.
For my final player for this game, I would get in Bhuvi. Bhuvi has looked a little off-colour this season, primarily because of the niggle he has been carrying. However, he has still managed to pick 8 wickets in 9 games. From that SRH unit, he seems like the 4th best possible bet and hence I would hope that he comes good tonight.
Prasidh Krishna and KC Gowtham are the remaining two players that make up my squad.
Match Powerplayer- Rashid Khan(if the pitch is slow)/Kane Williamson(if it is the normal Wankhede road)
2nd innings powerplayer- Ambati Rayudu(if CSK bat second)/Shikhar Dhawan(if SRH bat second)
Fandromeda(Fantasy Tips for SRH vs CSK Qualifier)
For Fandromeda you have 8 transfers+3 transfers for the entire playoff campaign, and hence in Fandromeda too I would have 9 players from today’s game.
The 9 players from today’s game remain the same. From tomorrow’s game, instead of Prasidh Krishna, I would advise you to get in Rahul Tripathi, who seemed in brilliant touch in the last game, scoring 80 odd.
Batting Captain: Kane Williamson
Bowling Captain: Rashid Khan
