ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 Fantasy: Best Fantasy XI for Set 1 | T20 World Cup Fantasy Tips
The wait for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 is over as USA and Canada renew cricket's oldest rivalry in the curtain-raiser of the tournament on Saturday night local time at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas.
With 20 teams participating in the group stages of the tournament, which consists of a whopping 55 matches, fans can expect an action-packed month of June.
The official Fantasy cricket game for the T20 WC has been released by the ICC, and given the sheer volume of teams participating and the number of matches in quick succession, they've rightfully changed the format of the tournament from a game-by-game basis to a Round basis.
Instead of making transfers to their team ahead of every match, Fantasy managers will now have to set their teams for a Set of matches (ranging from 10 in number to 1). There are five boosters to help them out that improve various aspects of point-scoring, and with certain teams playing twice within a set or not playing at all, there's plenty to think and ponder over before setting your teams.
So without further ado, let's get right into the Best Fantasy XI for Set 1 of T20 WC Fantasy 2024.
Transfer Deadline: 06:00 AM (IST) on Sunday, June 2, and 07:30 PM (Saturday) (local).
Best Fantasy XI for Set 1 - ICC Men's T20 World Cup Fantasy 2024
Wicketkeepers: Jos Buttler (ENG) ($9) vs SCO.
Batters: Suryakumar Yadav (IND) ($9.5) vs IRE, Brandon King (WI) ($8.5) vs PNG, and Steven Taylor (USA) ($5.5) vs CAN.
All-Rounders: Aqib Ilyas (OMA) ($6) vs NAM, AUS, Charles Amini (PNG) ($6) vs WI, UGA, and Alpesh Ramjani (UGA) ($6) vs AFG, PNG.
Bowlers: Rashid Khan (AFG) ($10) vs UGA, Alzarri Joseph (WI) ($9) vs PNG, John Kariko (PNG) ($6) vs WI, UGA, and Bilal Khan (OMA) ($5.5) vs NAM, AUS.
Booster Used: Wicket Wizards.
Set Preview
This is quite a tricky Set, as Uganda, Papua New Guinea, and Oman are the three teams to play twice. The fixtures for the three teams consist of one tough fixture against a top-8 opponent and one against an opponent similar to their level. Uganda and Papua New Guinea face each other in their respective second fixture, while Oman's favorable fixture is against Namibia in Match 3.
Some issues come up when playing this format of Fantasy, with the foremost of them being the unpredictability of weather when it comes to the Caribbean and the USA. Taking punts on players not locked in their sides' playing XI is also a risk, with only the lineups of the first match accessible.
Considering all this, it's best to pick the talismans and players guaranteed to start from all teams. As for the weather, there's not much you can do.
Team Selection
I've opted to start big with the most powerful booster, the Wicket Wizards, which doubles the point of each wicket taken.
I've picked five Associate players who play twice in this Set, and I'll start with those from Oman. Aqib Ilyas, the side's captain, is the team's best batter and a gun spinner whose wicket-taking numbers have risen massively in the last few months. He's also the prime captaincy option for this one. The experienced left-arm seamer Bilal Khan is all but guaranteed to pick up wickets for Oman as their strike bowler.
From Papua New Guinea, I've gone with seam-bowling all-rounder Charles Amini, arguably the best Fantasy option from the Barramundis, with an equally good record with both the bat and the ball. Alongside him, young left-arm spinner John Kariko is a differential punt who could deliver big.
The highly rated Kariko has 25 wickets in 16 matches at a stellar bowling average of 11.40, and while he could go for runs against the West Indies, he's sure to have plenty of impact against Uganda. Like Charles Amini, Alpesh Ramjani from Uganda is someone guaranteed to have an impact with both the bat and the ball.
Coming to the non-associate bowling options, I've gone with Rashid Khan and Alzarri Joseph from Afghanistan and the West Indies. Rashid will be bowling against Uganda, with Alzarri against PNG, giving them a good chance of racking up the points. They're also the captain and vice-captain of their respective sides, making them sure to feature in the playing XI.
Because of my booster, my batters and wicket-keepers won't have much of an impact, but I'm still trying to maximize my points from them. Steven Taylor is arguably the only batter who's likely to bowl 3-4 overs for his team, and he's a must-have because of the Booster.
I'm backing Suryakumar Yadav to come good in the first stage of the tournament against easier opponents, and a half-century shouldn't be a surprise against Ireland. Brandon King against PNG promises lots of runs, and so does Jos Buttler against Scotland.
Captaincy: Oman are the strongest of the three teams playing twice and Aqib Ilyas is easily the best Fantasy option from their team, and on paper, he seems like the best pick. Charles Amini or Alpesh Ramjani would be the best differential captaincy choice for those looking for one, with regard to this booster.