IPL 2018, Fantasy Guru: What your team should look like for CSK vs SRH
Captain – Kane Williamson
Captaincy preference order: Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan, Shikhar Dhawan
Guru’s team ahead of CSK vs SRH: Faf du Plessis, S Dhawan, K Williamson, A Rayudu, S Raina, MS Dhoni, D Chahar, S Kaul, B Kumar, R Khan, P Krishna
In Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, I already have all the players I need from Sunrisers Hyderabad in my team for the IPL final. Williamson, again, has no threats in the opposition bowling unit today, while all Dhawan needs is to escape the initial 4-over burst from Deepak Chahar and Lungi Ngidi.
Whether or not Rashid Khan comes into the game depends on Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu. If both of them are at the crease between overs 6-14, the Afghanistan leg-spinner could be negated. The rest of the CSK batting unit, on the other hand, wouldn’t find it easy. Bhuvneshwar Kumar needs to strike up front, as at the death the presence of Dhoni, who has an exceptional H2H record against the 28-year-old, could take him out of the equation.
Shakib Al Hasan is the only other player worth considering, and there are decent chances of him coming in handy – wickets of Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis and batting at No.4 now in the absence of Manish Pandey.
From Chennai Super Kings, it is difficult to leave Ambati Rayudu out despite him now being pushed down to No.4, as against this Sunrisers bowling attack CSK could easily be two down in no time, which will, in turn, result in him coming in early. With the 32-year-old also being a fantasy favorite now, not having him could cost you big time.
Suresh Raina looked in good touch in the first qualifier and was unlucky to be dismissed the way he was. Given he is one of the two players in the team who can handle Rashid, you got to have him. MS Dhoni becomes an automatic pick for me, as I need a wicket-keeper to fit the team combination; if he survives Rashid, he could tear into the SRH death bowling.
The last capped spot is a shootout between Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson. Du Plessis is the kind of player, who if he is in form, would keep delivering for you. And his only real threat today is Rashid, who comes into the attack only after the first 6 overs - not a compelling case against him. Watson, on the other hand, has as many as three threats in Bhuvneshwar Kumar (who has got him out cheaply twice in the tournament already), Rashid Khan and Shakib Al Hasan.