IPL 2014: Fantasy Guru - Cash in on Abu Dhabi double headers
Guru’s team after two matches
While I was conservative in the first two matches for reasons explained in my first article (Kick-off strategy), I would be more aggressive in the next couple of matches, as I have a good account of the Abu Dhabi wicket.
Points to be noted ahead of the double-headers:
Faf du Plessis captained Chennai Super Kings in the practice match against Kolkata Knight Riders despite Brendon McCullum being a part of it, and Dwayne Smith played a blitzkrieg to ease past the Kolkata-based outfit. Also, CSK love continuity. So, are we looking at a Du Plessis and Dwayne Smith pairing up top?
Contrary to the popular belief that the pitches in the United Arab Emirates will help the spin bowlers, the first two days saw them being good batting decks.
Morne Morkel kept banging Kieron Pollard with brutal rising deliveries and outplayed Michael Hussey in the powerplay with bounce and swing. Varun Aaron hit JP Duminy on the helmet.
Kevin Pietersen sounded hopeless when asked about when he would return to the team. I have him in my All Stars 11, and this is a hammer blow.
David Warner has played as a middle order batsman for Delhi Daredevils and quite inexplicably had a reasonable success, too. One of Aaron Finch, Shikhar Dhawan and Warner needs to drop down, and it could very well be Australia’s Ashes hero. Not that I agree with it; I want Dhawan to drop down, as he will have a better chance of being successful against spinners than the Australian pair.
Chennai Super Kings vs. Kings 11 Punjab:
Guru’s team for the 3rd match – CSK vs. KXIP
Transfers made – 2; Transfers remaining – 73
George Bailey (in) – Sunil Narine (out)
Mitchell Johnson (in) – Lasith Malinga (out)
Pravin Tambe (in) – Mayank Agarwal (out)
Captain – Mitchell Johnson
I had Baba Aparajith in already, even ahead of the start of the tournament, as he was the most likeliest to play and cheapest available replacement for Jasprit Bumrah, who was in the team at first place before a Mumbai Indians’ brain freeze saw him being dropped. They did pay for it, though.
Here you may notice that Mayank Agarwal, the other uncapped player in the team, has been replaced by Pravin Tambe, a Rajasthan Royals player, and not anyone from CSK or KXIP. It is done because, with the exception of Ishwar Pandey and Sandeep Sharma (who are unlikely to play), I don’t see any worthy uncapped player who can give me points.
While Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra would have been valuable additions on other tracks, with the assistance that the pace bowlers bowlers got at Abu Dhabi, I do not see them surviving the first 6 overs. They have shown their propensity to attack without any awareness to the match situation or the nature of the pitch one too many times before, and hence I am not ready to gamble on them.
I have gone for a much safer option in Tambe from the very next fixture that follows CSK vs. KXIP. While you are allowed to pick one free uncapped player for every match, it is not necessary that he should be from the teams playing in it. So you could pick anyone who can bring you points instead of wasting in someone whom you think won’t do well.
CSK top order in trouble:
I was very confident of Suresh Raina making my line-up, but then I watched the first match. With Morne bowling the way he did, I am now inclined to keep Raina out fearing a Mitchell Johnson run-in through the CSK top order. Even the most assured of the CSK trio of openers – Du Plessis – wouldn’t find a spot for the same reason. With that bounce, in addition to Johnson, Parvinder Awana can pose enough threat too.
The MS Dhoni puzzle:
Generally, if CSK’s top order fails, they will look up to MS Dhoni to save face. However, as Dhoni usually plays a floater like Baba Aparajith/Mithun Manhas and Dwayne Bravo at number 4 and 5, he will be coming in at only no. 6. What if he runs out of partners or CSK somehow manage to resist Johnson’s possible surge? There are quite a few uncertainties to stay away from making this move.
Since Punjab have an abysmal death bowling unit and a No. 5 batsman wouldn’t face much of Johnson, Dwayne Bravo, in rich vein of form lately, looks a safe bet to me.
Samuel Badree will probably sit out:
CSK would have entertained thoughts of playing Badree as the overseas bowler when they picked him at the auction. With the assistance that the pacers got in the first match, I don’t think that it is the case anymore, more so when you already have Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the team. Ben Hilfenhaus could well get a chance in the CSK colours again, especially when you consider CSK’s weakness in the pace department and Dhoni’s love to ‘manoeuvre’ with pacers.
If Hilfenhaus plays, he is worth a spot in your fantasy team, as KXIP will most likely have a top 3 of Virender Sehwag, Mandeep Singh/Wriddhiman Saha and Manan Vohra. All 3 will hardly have any clue if Hilfenhaus gets it right.
I don’t usually rate him in T20s in the subcontinent, as he is scopeless at death. However, when the pitch has something on offer, he would be the first one to extract it.
KXIP:
Perhaps my point about why Hilfenhaus will be effective would give an indication of how much I value the KXIP top 3. So it will all be left in hands of Glenn Maxwell and George Bailey to do the repair work. The pitches should suit their style of batting, and both look good to me.
Why them and why not David Miller has been explained in my previous article. They could make it worse by sending someone like Wriddhiman Saha as a floater.
Given the nature of the wicket, Mitchell Johnson should be your first name on the sheet.
Murali Karthik’s presence in my squad has been briefed in my first article, as well. Looking at the nature of the pitches, I am less confident of him succeeding now, though. I can’t take him out anyway, so he has to play this match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Rajasthan Royals:
Guru’s team for the 4th match – RR vs SRH
Transfers made – 4; Transfers remaining – 69
Darren Sammy (in) – Mitchell Johnson (out)
Dale Steyn (in) – Michael Hussey (out)
Amit Mishra (in) – Ravichandran Ashwin (out)
Sanju Samson (in) – Murali Karthik (out)
Dhawal Kulkarni (in) – Baba Aparajith (out)
Captain – Amit Mishra
You may notice that Samson, an uncapped player, has been included at the cost of Murali Karthik, a capped player. The change was forced to accommodate the other 4 substitutions, as doing them needed a tweak in the combination of players. Also, the budget is very tight this time around, and it looks like one needs 3 uncapped players for a smooth road ahead and to avoid any last minute hassles.
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
The very thought of Warner and Aaron Finch being humbled by Pravin Tambe freaks me out. Tambe loves bowling ‘sliders’, and both of them don’t pick it as well they should. This scenario comes into play should they escape the swing bowling of Vikramjeet Malik and Dhawal Kulkarni up top. Shikhar Dhawan isn’t in greatest of forms to ponder over his inclusion.
Darren Sammy will be left with all to do, and he can easily steal the show given the form he is in and the composure he exhibits. Not to forget he can chip in with a couple of wickets, too.
Amit Mishra and Dale Steyn, simply put, need to be in the team.