IPL Fantasy Faceoff

Post toss: PBKS won and chose to bowl seems to be a theme in 2026 no changes just swapping VC from Arya to P Singh. Final team: Shreyas C, Singh VC, Arya, Krishna. And if you want someone cheap now the lineups released I can recommend Ashok Sharma and Cooper which can balance a more expensive player like Iyer, Gill or Sai.

That was an absolute nightmare of a game, there’s no other way to put it. Low-scoring matches are always dangerous in fantasy, but this one just completely tanked almost everyone. When even the heavily owned players don’t deliver, it turns into pure damage control rather than trying to gain rank. Mhatre and Samson giving me just 24 points combined set the tone early nothing worse than a player essentially blanking in a game where every run and wicket mattered. The rain I expected didn't play a part fortunately or unfortunately I have no clue. Jaiswal was the one real positive, putting up 88.5 with the VC which should honestly be the minimum, but without him this would’ve been a complete disaster. He looked solid while everything around him was falling apart, so at least that call paid off. The one bowler I had Noor couldn't achieve anything but I don't really blame him RR looked solid and didn't need to risk anything for such a small chase. In a low total, you’d expect bowlers to cash in, but he was just on the wrong side. Samson as captain was the worst however, so much hype but so little runs. Ending on 22 points with the 2x meant he just blended in with the rest of the underperformers rather than any sort of leadership.. The fact that around 50% of players had him makes it slightly easier to swallow, but it still feels like a missed opportunity. Overall, just a brutal match for fantasy. When the game is this low scoring and unpredictable, it becomes more about limiting losses than making gains and this one definitely falls into the “survive and move on” category. Hopefully that’s the worst of it out of the way.

Now for today's game. I already have Prasidh Krishna from GT a very capable wicket taker on the right day. Removing Santner who may not play so I wanted him out first, Samson and Jaiswal, which meant I had 29cr for 3 players and 2 OS slots. Knowing that Punjab is playing again in 2 days I decided to save some transfers and just pick all 3 players from PBKS even if they technically might not be as good. I would recommend you do the same if possible. But with 29cr I could just barely afford Shreyas Iyer, Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya the top 3 highest scorers for PBKS in 2025. So they're still VERY capable top order batsmen and you can safely assume 2 of the 3 atleast with have a good match. I don't think they need a lot of explaining if you followed last season so picking the Cap and Vice-Cap is going to be a big boost if I can get it right and recover some points. So far I've only made 1 transfer a game so this is the first game I'm spending a good amount transfers.

Some other options are of course Sai and Gill. Two incredible run scorers with elite consistency. I'd definitely include them if it weren't for the fact that PBKS plays so soon so it's debatable. In terms of all-rounders, Jensen, Sundar and Stoinis have the most potential, all of whom have had their moments. Buttler is another insanely capable player that GT have but I feel he might take a game or so to warm up. I don't think this bowling line up will be able to do much against the batsmen on roads so take whoever you can afford, they're all quite decent players Rabada, Arshdeep, Krishna, Chahal and more. In terms of cheaper players who can get points, Anuj Rawat and Cooper Connolly are good choices but it will depend on who's actually playing as there's no clear uncapped players in the team.

VC swapped from Arya to Singh

Hope it plays out for us ALL and thanks for reading. I'll see you after the toss.