IPL 2018 Fantasy Guru: What your team should look like for DD vs SRH
Subs used – 2; Subs remaining – 18
Chris Gayle out – Shreyas Iyer in
Sanju Samson out – Rishabh Pant in
(Uncapped) Suryakumar Yadav out – Prithvi Shaw in (if SRH bat first)/Avesh Khan in (for a basic 2nd innings captaincy option if DD bat first)
Uncapped player preference order: Prithvi Shaw, Siddarth Kaul, Avesh Khan
Captain – Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Captaincy preference order: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant
Differentials: Shikhar Dhawan and Alex Hales
Multipliers remaining – 2
Guru’s team ahead of DD vs SRH: P Shaw, S Iyer, R Pant, L Rahul, J Buttler, R Uthappa, J Archer, K Pandya, A Russell, S Kaul, B Kumar
Barring the first IPL 2018 match played there, Feroz Shah Kotla has been amongst the best batting decks this season. Combine it with the short boundaries at the venue and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of runs being scored today even if the game involves the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling attack.
The visitors have absolutely no reason to change their playing XI, while Delhi Daredevils have as many as three players in Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian and Naman Ojha whose spots are under threat.
With Prithvi Shaw getting in as the uncapped pick for the day, I rope in Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant as well. Iyer has an exceptional record vs Rashid Khan and is in good form, while leaving out Pant when he has now become one of the hottest picks of the season is a risk I am not willing to take at this stage of the tournament, given how destructive he can be on his day.
That DD's next match is against the bowling attack of RCB on a good batting deck in just two days' time only further strengthens their case.
Maxwell opening the innings is a differential I would have normally jumped on, but not when the opposition has Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid. If he fails today, he might not even make the next match; on the off chance that he does, it will be against Yuzvendra Chahal, and you all know how that ends. There are danger signs all over this move.
From the Sunrisers, I already have Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Siddarth Kaul. Kane Williamson at No.3 still doesn’t convince me, and alI I need to get away with the decision of keeping Rashid out is for Bhuvneshwar to take at least as many wickets as the Afghanistan leg-spinner, just like what happened in the last match. There is also a possibility of Iyer and Pant using the nature of the deck and short boundaries to reduce his impact.