IPL Fantasy Faceoff

RCB won and chose to bowl. No Salt and no Mukesh and I'll be taking Bethell and Jamieson. Not your standard picks and definitely a risk. But I think these two youngsters have a good chance to shine here. If you want to play it safe take Stubbs and Hazlewood.Coming into this round I hadn't planned when I'd using the FH. The original idea after seeing the crazy totals in the PBKS vs DC match was simple, just back a Triple Captain on Kohli and move on. But after thinking about he potential, 529 runs in a single match tells you everything you need to know about the conditions. When a ground is playing like that, you have to take advantage of it.

The problem was I only had one player for this match and didn't know who would actually perform. There was no way I was going to sit there and watch another potential 400 to 500 run game without being properly invested. That’s what pushed me into using the Free Hit. No planning needed, no long term consequences, just build the best possible team for one game with unlimited budget and reset after.

Looking back at the last couple of games, they’ve both just been average. 232 last game and 237 the one before, which isn’t terrible but nowhere near enough when others are hitting big scores. A lot of that has come down to how unpredictable things have been. There’s been so much chaos that it’s been almost impossible to make clean reads. CSK and KKR both had massive collapses which completely flipped those games. In both cases, they were basically saved by one player. Rinku Singh for KKR and Gaikwad for CSK. Naturally, I had neither. That’s just how it’s been going. On top of that, Mohsin Khan picking up 5 wickets was a huge missed opportunity. Those are the kind of hauls that can completely change your rank and I just wasn’t on it.

DC vs RCB at Arun Jaitley should be another run fest. Both teams are strong with the bat and not particularly threatening with the ball, especially DC with Ngidi out (I'm assuming, not confirmed) which weakens them even more. If the pitch plays anything like last time, we’re easily looking at another 450+ total of both innings.

With the Free Hit, I’ve stacked the team accordingly. I mostly looked at performers from of course the DC vs PBKS game but also the completed DC vs RCB clash this season and RCB's last game, to weigh the choices. KL Rahul is a MUST have and with Salt we have a mix of consistency and aggression. Kohli is the captain, pretty straightforward decision given his form and how well he plays in these conditions. Along with Kohli, KL will be my VC after some great knocks of 150 and 90+ he's arguably entitled to the Captaincy but that's to be seen. Padikkal, Patidar and Miller all benefit from a high scoring game where even quick contributions can turn into big fantasy returns. They've shown some consistency and a decent ceiling and hopefully 2/3 will have a blast. Rana was chosen based on his last game and he's a bit of a risk but with the run potential I don't see anyone else coming close except maybe Rizvi. Axar comes in as the all rounder option, and I'll be honest he hasn't been great. But none of the all-rounders have so I guess I'll take him to meet the minimum. Of the bowlers I'm very happy taking Kuldeep Yadav and Bhuvi Kumar but it's that 3rd slot, Ngidi's slot that will be a troublesome pick. I was initially feeling Mukesh but I could end up going Hazlewood/Duffy depending on who gets played.After a couple of frustrating booster outcomes, this feels like the perfect opportunity to see some great results of 800-1000+ points. Let’s see if it pays off. Thanks for reading and I'll see you after the toss!