Big Bash League: A fantasy preview
The sixth season of the Big Bash League (BBL) is just a few days away and the is a lot of excitement around it as top limited overs cricketers from across the globe are set to grace the tournament.
Fantasy giants Oye Captain give you an opportunity to play a unique skill-based fantasy game and earn money just by following the BBL.
In each match, you need to login on www.oyecaptain.com and select a team of eleven players from the two teams in action and you will get points according to the performances of your players in the said match.
Team Combination
On Oye Captain, in your XI, you need to have a minimum of three batsmen, three bowlers, one all-rounder and a maximum of one wicket-keeper. So basically, once you get the basic requirements out of the way, you can still pick three players.
As always, in fantasy cricket, it’s always advisable to fill your team with all-rounders as much as possible. There will be a lot of good all-rounders on display Down Under with the likes of Andre Russell, Ben Cutting, Dwayne Bravo, Moises Henriques playing in the tournament.
This is where most of your credit should go once you’ve fulfilled the necessities.
The likes of Russell and Bravo have a couple of added advantages, namely (i) as they bowl at the death, they are likely to get a wicket or two in every match as the batsmen throw their bats at almost everything, and (ii) they are brilliant fielders who are likely to field in important positions and can fetch you points with some catches or run-outs.
Also, look out for players marked as batsmen who are having an Indian summer with the ball and vice-versa.
Basic Fantasy Tips
There is always the tendency to pick cricketers who do not feature in teams of other fantasy players. While that strategy is far from ideal in a fantasy game that lasts over an entire league, in Oye Captain where you need to pick a separate team for each match, it works well.
Having said that, selecting the more popular players is always a more effective tactic.
In a T20 league that happens over the course of seven weeks, one must concentrate on in-form players rather than swear by the big names. If we are to equate it to football, you would rather have an in-form Joey Barton rather than an out-of-touch Lionel Messi.
At the start of the competition, you’ll be better off picking safe bets. Players, you know for certain who will get enough time to get a good score with the bat or will bowl at least three overs in a match.
A specialist batsman who bats below the number five position should be a big no in T20 fantasy unless it’s a massive superstar who is likely to get a good score in most matches.
Bowlers who bowl in the middle overs are usually a safe bet. Back in the day, it would mean the likes of Sunil Narine who would come in to bowl after the Powerplay and go through his four overs without conceding much runs, in addition to picking up a couple of wickets. But that has changed now with even spinners bowling at the death regularly.
Remember, there are points to be earned based on economy rate as well, so don’t just look at the wicket-taking bowlers.
Availability of Players
Unlike the Indian Premier League (IPL), even some of the home (Australian) cricketers will not be available for the entire BBL as it clashes with their Test series against Pakistan.
Hence, always keep an eye out on the availability of players before selecting a team for a match. The likes of Mitchell Starc and Usman Khawaja are likely to fetch you a lot of points, but they will rarely feature in the competition.
There are a few Australian limited overs internationals (Travis Head, Chris Lynn etc.) who are not in the Test side and with their availability not in question, you should definitely have them in your thoughts before selecting your line-up.
That’s all you needed to know about the fantasy game for one of the biggest T20 tournaments in the world - The Big Bash League. So, what are you waiting for? Quickly log in, pick your team based on the tips given above and rake in the moolah for every match!
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