It’s that time of the year again. Cricketers from all over the globe flock to India for one of the biggest carnivals out there and fans prepare themselves for two months of non-stop cricketing frenzy.
But if you are a fantasy manager; those excel sheets with player prices, match schedules and form guides take up more time of your day than any other ‘worthwhile’ task ever did.
And why not? Cricket has been our first love all along and the idea of owning a cricket team(even if only virtual) makes the prospect of enjoying the game even more exciting. Fantasy Cricket has boomed in a large way in India, thanks to Dream 11 splurging out some cash and bringing MS Dhoni at the helm of the sport(Fantasy Cricket and not just cricket) that is completely played ‘Dimaag Se’.
Now, while that move initially made ‘Fantasy Managers’ sport an end-to-end smile, little did we know that we were digging our own grave.
Dream 11 rose to the top, ending Fandromeda’s little stint in the sun, and with it went down that one platform that truly believed in the ‘tournament mode’ of Fantasy Cricket.
Dream 11 excelled in ‘Daily games’, catering to the needs of fans that enjoyed making different teams for different games, not worrying about tournament long strategies and schedule specific moves. And it has worked wonders for them, as Dream 11 is currently one of the fastest growing startups in India.
But they have caused pain to a small section of those Fantasy Managers that fell in love with the ‘tournament mode’ when the format was first introduced by the official fantasy league. Those that still lust for 75/80 transfers for the league phase and the 12/15 transfers for the playoff phase structure.
And with the official IPL fantasy league being handed to Dream 11 for this season, the original tournament mode might have just run its course.
A ‘season mode’ has been introduced, one where managers need to select a team for an entire round(comprising of 8 matches) without any substitutions during that round.
So, essentially one needs to pick a team of 11 players from the first 8 games(where all teams will play twice) and then just forget about their team until the end of that round.
No manager interaction to take place with their team for an entire week, and there goes your hope of interacting with the IPL in a greater way than just watching the game. But let’s not lose hope, let’s give Dream 11 a chance, hopefully it surprises us all in a good way.
Dream 11 rules for the ‘season mode’
Managers need to select their team for an entire round of matches and can only make ‘trades’ in between two rounds. Unlimited trades are allowed before the first two rounds, but only 5 trades from thereon. For every additional trade made from the 3rd round onwards, 10 points will be deducted from the overall score.
The scoring system is miserly to say the least. It is important to note that no extra points will be awarded for batsmen playing with a strike rate of 100+.
How do you setup your Dream 11 Fantasy Team?
All teams play twice in the first round, hence you don’t really have a ‘schedule advantage’ to work with. What you could instead work with is if teams play at home twice during the round. One could expect teams to win at home, but again during the early part of the tournament, making such assumptions could be naive.
Now, some basic rules that one must follow whilst making their fantasy teams:
1) When opting for batsmen, put all your money on the Top 3
The T20 format provides only the top 3 batsmen(sometimes the top 4) to go on and make a score of 75 plus. So, there is no point investing money in a number 5 specialist batsman, as more often than not he’ll come to the crease in the 15th over and will face a maximum of 15 balls. You can’t leave things to chance here, and so opt for batsmen who would be in line to face the maximum number of deliveries(unless of course if it’s ABD).
2) Make death bowlers your best friends
Remember, every wicket that a bowler takes has the same number of points. The IPL Fantasy does not discriminate between batsmen, and thus if you take Kohli’s wicket or Chahal’s, you’ll end up getting the same number of points. So, it is only logical that you opt for bowlers who get to bowl at least two overs in the death, so that they can chip away with a few cheap wickets.
Let’s get to business now.
Dream 11 IPL Fantasy Tips for CSK vs RCB
Batsmen
Virat Kohli and ABD would be my first picks when it comes to batsmen for an 8 game round. With just 11 players to be chosen for 8 matches, you need to invest in the big name players, and when it comes to cricket, there aren’t any as big as these two.
No matter what the ground, no matter what the conditions, you can always bank on these two stalwarts coming through for you. Also, both these players are in a rich vein of form. Kohli is coming off two hundreds in the Australia series and AB de Villiers had a very successful stint in the BPL and PSL. Get the duo in.
Now, as it is wise to go in for top 3 batsmen, I turn my attention to a number 3 that can fetch me decent enough points while not worrying too much about the strike rate.
According to the Dream 11 points system, batsmen aren’t rewarded for a healthy strike rate and hence I don’t really have to worry about taking players that score at a brisk rate. Hence, I would rather go in with a player that is certain to score 30 odd more number of times than one that can give me a 70 off 40 balls once in a while.
Shreyas Iyer seems like the best pick at the moment. The Captain of the Delhi Capitals was in great form last season and has fared well in domestic and India A games recently. Coming in at number, with his technique and poise, I feel he is well adept to shower me with some points in Round 1. Also, he would up against MI on that road in Wankhede in his first game and against a depleted CSK bowling unit at Delhi in his second game
For the final batsman pick, I would be going in with the recently capped Indian batsman, Mayank Agarwal. He was my final pick of round 1. Coming off an impressive Australia test series and some good India A and domestic performances, this could be Mayank Agarwal’s year in the IPL. Also, coming in at 8.5 and batting in the top 3, he surely is a steal.
Wicketkeeper
The wicketkeeper choice is going to be an iffy one, with Jos Butler, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant being top picks for the slot. With all three being 9.5+, I can only bring one of them in and hence need to initially sort it out with respect to their batting positions.
While Rishabh Pant could really be a differentiating factor in the two games he plays, I can’t draft him in over Rahul and Butler, because both those players will be opening the innings for their respective sides. Thus, I rule out Rishabh Pant for now and draft in Jos Butler, largely because I can save 0.5 credits here, something that I will be needing, considering I have drafted in both Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
All-Rounders
Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Chris Morris and Dwayne Bravo are the 4 all-rounders in my consideration set for the one overseas all-rounder spot.
With the points system in place for the Dream 11 tournament mode, one would like to go in with a batting all-rounder and not a bowling one. A reddit user applied the Dream 11 points system to players’ performances in the 2018 season, and the first bowler to appear on the highest scorers list was on the 20th position(Andrew Tye).
Hence, the 2019 season scoring method isn’t quite in favour of the bowlers and thus a batting all-rounder would be the way to go. Out of the 4 options, Andre Russell seems to be the best possible option, as he could be promoted up the order by the Knight Riders if the top order fares well, and he is almost certain to bowl his quota of 4 overs, as KKR have a fast bowling crisis.
If you can go in with two all-rounders, Sunil Narine could be your second best option, considering he opens the batting, but his cost and the fact that he would be up against two good bowling attacks could work against him.
As far as a safe option goes, none come more safer than Dwayne Bravo, who is certain to bowl 3 out of his 4 overs at the death and could come in handy lower down the order. However, in a straight match up with Russell, Bravo’s impact potential is way lower and hence I would prefer Russell.(Use Bravo only if you cannot afford Russell and are opting for different team combination).
My budget all-rounder pick is going to be the highly talented Shivam Dube, who will slot into that RCB middle order and will in chip in with a couple of overs as well. In the pre-match press conference, Virat Kohli has spoken about how the young Indian core is ready to stand up for RCB and Shivam Dube could very well lead the charge, riding on some impressive performances in domestic cricket.
Bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah would be the first bowler that I get into my team for this game. The best T20 bowler in the world, certain to bowl at least 2 overs at the death; you cannot ask for more. Draft him in.
Now, for the second bowler pick, it was straight shootout between Rashid Khan and Jofra Archer. Now, while Rashid Khan has been a revelation in T20 cricket all around the globe, I could not opt for him largely because of his price. The upsides to Jofra Archer are that, he is 0.5 credits cheaper and that he is certain to bowl at least a couple of fiery overs at the death; something that give him a chance of getting a few cheap wickets.
Now, for the last two bowlers; I have been forced to go with a couple of budget picks, because of the budget constrains on offer and hence I have opted for two 7.5 credits bowlers.
Khaleel Ahmed makes it to my side, largely because of the fact that he is certain to play all games for the Sunrisers and should be amongst the wickets thanks to his left-arm angle. The other 7.5 credits bowler that I have gone for his the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. He is going to be my differentiator for this round and hopefully he can cause some havoc in Jaipur and Kolkata.
Captain: Virat Kohli
Vice Captain: AB de Villiers
Dream 11 Daily Fantasy team for CSK vs RCB
In order to delve into the Daily Fantasy team for CSK vs RCB, have a look at the predicted playing XI of CSK and RCB.
For the daily game, it is more of a lottery and all you need to do is get well equipped with the playing XI of both sides first. In a T20 game always try and go for batsmen that bat in the top 3 and bowlers that bowl at the death. That way you would be maximising your chances of getting a good chunk of Fantasy points. Players performing is an outcome, all we can do is keep our logic sound and follow that all through the tournament.
Wicketkeeper
In a shootout between Parthiv Patel and MS Dhoni, from a fantasy perspective, I’ll have to go with Parthiv Patel because in all probability, he would be opening the batting for RCB. With Dhoni slated to bat in the middle order, you never really know how many balls he would be able to face and what kind of match situation he would encounter; hence I would go in with Parthiv.
Batsmen
With the point scoring system being heavily in favour of the batsmen, I would go in with a batting heavy team. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers walk into my side for reasons already explained in the Dream 11 season mode section.
Hetmyer is the other RCB batsman worth talking about and considering his exploits against India in India, I would be tempted to bring him in.
From CSK, Rayudu and Raina are the two proper batsmen in the top order and I will be bringing both of them in.
All-Rounders
As far as the all-rounders are concerned, my first pick would be Dwayne Bravo, because of the fact that he bowls 3 of his 4 overs at the death and could run away with a few cheap wickets, especially if CSK bowl first. If CSK bat first, you could go in with Kedar Jadhav instead of Bravo.
For the second all rounder, I will have to go in with the budget pick of Shivam Dube, who comes in at just 8Cr credits and provides balance to my team.
Bowlers
Yuzvendra Chahal would be my first pick, considering the ground at Chennai and how it would assess the spinners. Chahal has bene a revelation in the IPL and could run through the CSK middle order, if on song.
Siraj’s death bowling skills have improved a lot over the past few seasons and he will be RCB’s go-to man at the death. A few cheap wickets could be in the offing for the Hyderabad man. For the last pick, with 8.5 cr in the bag, Deepak Chahar’s impressive 2018 IPL is enough to earn him a berth.
Team: Virat Kohli(c), ABD(vc), Parthiv Patel(wk),Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Hetmyer, Dwayne Bravo, Shivam Dube, Siraj, Chahal and Chahar
Happy team picking.
For those of you who want to indulge in some old school tournament mode IPL Fantasy, a good website has been suggested by one of The SportsRush’s avid readers; Play Cricket Fantasy
Here is a screenshot of my team for the same:
I have opted for 6 players from the CSK-RCB game, 2 from the KKR-SRH game, 2 DC players as they place twice in three days and a Varun Chakravarthy from KXIP to help me with the budget constraint.
Virat Kohli and ABD don’t need any justifications. Dwayne Bravo’s all round abilities would come in handy, especially with he being certain to bowl at least 3 of his 4 overs at the death.
Yuzvendra Chahal could come good in the sluggish conditions in Chennai, with Deepak Chahar and Shivam Dube also coming in as budget cum differential picks. Deepak Chahar could chip in with a few wickets early on, with Shivam Dube having a massive reputation in domestic cricket for his fierce hitting in the middle order.
Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant form the core of the Delhi Capitals batting unit and would be playing Mumbai Indians on that road in Wankhede first and then at Kotla against a fragile CSK bowling unit.
Captain: Virat Kohli(if RCB bat second)/ABD(if RCB bat first)
Vice Captain: Virat Kohli(if RCB bat first)/ABD(if RCB bat second)
