Two teams that have heavily underachieved over the course of the Indian Premier League will be locking horns to see if they can take that leap of faith from mediocrity to supremacy.
Royal Challengers have already been pegged back because of multiple injuries to their star players(Virat-ABD) and on top of that they were outmuscled by a rejuvenated Sunrisers outfit in the tournament opener. Bowling lacks spine, fielders seem jittery and batsmen lack clarity. But all that could quickly change once Virat and ABD come to the fore frame.
Delhi Daredevils have their own issues to deal with. JP Duminy and Quinton De Kock have been ruled out of the IPL and suddenly DD look a little too bowling heavy. Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out due to chicken pox and Rishab Pant might not take the field after his father’s demise two days back.
Sam Billings should slot in as their opener. along with one from Samson and Pant. Morris is a definite starter and Rabada will play the role of the premier death bowler. Corey Anderson or Braithwaite could be deployed in the all rounder’s role.
For RCB, ABD should be coming back in for this game but no call has been taken as of now, as he’ll be facing a fitness test before the game. Other than that there should be no changes to the RCB Xi that took the field in the tournament opener.
Let’s get to business now!
IPL Fantasy League
Now, I already have Kedar Jadhav and Yuzi Chahal in my team for this game.
Yuzi Chahal has been a revelation in the T20 format for both club and country. More than his skill, it’s his temperament that sets him apart from the rest. If you don’t already have him in your side, draft him in, he is bound to fetch you a minimum of 50 points whenever he takes the field.
Also Read: IPL Fantasy tips for Kings XI Punjab vs Rising Pune Supergiant
Kedar Jadhav’s fantasy potential has sky rocketed with him donning the gloves and coming in to bat at number 4. Again, try drafting him in, if you did not follow the Fantasy tips for the season opener(Don’t worry, you have been excused).
One major event would determine the transfers for this game and that is ABD’s participation. So, I’ll be giving you two scenarios(with ABD and without ABD) and the transfers to be undertaken under those two scenarios.
Case 1: If ABD plays
Shut your ears and brain, and transfer in ABD before someone tries to talk you out of it. Simple as that.
Now, one thing that you need to remember when games happen at the Chinnaswamy is that you DO NOT put your money on bowlers! It could backfire big time. The Chinnaswamy is a batting paradise and you need to respect the fact and not torture the bowlers by selecting them in your team and giving them further more responsibility.
The second player that I would bring in Sam Billings. Billings is a wonderful timer of the ball and the fact that he’ll be opening the innings presents him with ample time to pile up the runs. Also, he is a great player of spin and should be able to counter the trickery of Yuzi Chahal. Get him in!
For the uncapped player pick, it’s a toss up between Shahbaz Nadeem and Aniket Chaudhary. I’ll be going with Aniket as Shabaz(being a spinner) could be ripped apart at the Chinnaswamy.
Captain: ABD(Self explanatory)
Case 2: If ABD does not play
This is where it gets a little tricky, as ABD is someone whom you can bank on, while now it could be a case of hit and miss.
Bring in Billings all the same, because of the aforementioned reasons. Now, for the second pick we could go in with either Gayle, Watson, Morris or Rabada.
Watson seems the safest pick of all, as he will be batting at number 5 and will be bowling at least 3 overs(1 of which will be a the death). Get him in for sure if RCB bat first as he’ll be getting at least 5 overs to tonk the ball around.
But if RCB bat second, I would favour Gayle, despite there being a lot of hawks in the DD bowling line up(Shami, Rabada, Zak, Morris). It’s a gamble worth taking at the Chinnaswamy.
I am not going for any other DD players as of now because I still want to see what kind of combination do they use in the death overs. Ideally Rabada and Morris should be operating then but then with Zak you never really know. Also, on a flat pitch I have my reservations against stacking my team up with bowlers.
Captain: Shane Watson/Sam Billings
Fandromeda
The Case 1 remains the same, except the fact that Fandromeda allows more transfers, so I can afford to get in Watson and Gayle as well. I’ll get in one of them, if ABD plays(Watson if RCB bat first, Gayle if RCB bat second). I’ll get both of them in if ABD doesn’t feature.
Batting Star: ABD/Gayle
Bowling Star: Yuzi Chahal
Happy team picking 🙂
