IPL Fantasy League 2016 Tips: Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians, Match 21

Guru’s team for the KXIP vs MI match today

Transfers made – 0; Transfers remaining – 53

(Uncapped) Iqbal Abdulla out – Krunal Pandya in

Batting captain – Rohit Sharma

Bowling captain – Jasprit Bumrah 

Batting captaincy options – Rohit Sharma and Shaun Marsh 

Marsh’s 40s and 50s should have been 70s and 80s, or even better, had he been played at the right position, and I have discussed enough about why I don’t like to have him in my team with an in-form opening duo. Rohit playing a much easier bowling attack on a good batting wicket is an easy choice for captaincy anyway,

Bowling captaincy options – Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell McClenaghan

I don’t have McClenaghan, so it has to be Bumrah. I understand that the Indian pacer hasn’t been getting many wickets, but with death bowlers you never know; only a couple of matches back he gave me a 3-wicket haul, so I have planned to stick with him at least till the Knight Riders match.

If you are losing confidence in him, just remember what Mustafizur Rahman did when most of them lost hope on him and switched to Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 150 points as against Bhuvneshwar's 20 something.

Nature of the deck – Flat 

Kings XI Punjab – where the match breaks

Glenn Maxwell could be dropped today for his atrocious performances so far, but given the options they have, I would still like to stick with him and instead replace Kyle Abbott with Marcus Stoinis, who could give them some good batting depth besides rolling his arm over.

With a couple of left-handers already in the side and the possible inclusion of Corey Anderson, bringing in KC Cariappa won’t be a bad option either. 

Kings XI need to sacrifice one of their Indian openers and play Shaun Marsh instead. Marsh is someone who can get you the real big scores, as against Vohra and Vijay who stop with 50s. 

Mumbai Indians – where the match breaks 

Option 1: Drop Parthiv Patel and Tim Southee, play Martin Guptill and Shreyas Gopal – To expect Parthiv to repeat last season’s heroics is naive. Such things happen once in a while, but in general, you have to realise that Parthiv is far from being suited for this format. Instead have Guptill opening and a leg-spinner in your team. 

Option 2: Drop Parthiv and Southee, play Unmukt Chand and Corey Anderson – Although Unmukt is no better than Parthiv, this at least strengthens their middle order. Imagine a middle order with the likes of Buttler, Pollard and Anderson on a good batting wicket! You simply don’t get through them. 

Uncapped picks – Manan Vohra (1), Krunal Pandya (2) and Unmukt Chand (if he opens)

I am not getting in Vohra as he doesn’t fit into my combination. Also, there is a good chance that the Mumbai bowling attack could get him before he does any serious damage.

Match call – Mumbai to ace it.