IPL Fantasy Faceoff

Post toss update: RR won toss and is bowling. While the covers are off for now there is still rain potential use as MINIMAL transfers as possible. None if you already have atleast 2 players playing. If you do want to add players pick TOP ORDER (1-4) NOT FINISHERS/ALL-ROUNDERS (5-7). Ideally you'd pick batters from the team batting first and bowlers from the other. Gaikwad, Samson, Ayush, Bishnoi, Archer, Burger are the best picks for this rain affected game. With Ayush and Burger being very cheap.

I think I'll keep my team and transfer the same as Samson plays up top and CSK is batting first. And the rest I can't change anyway. So my final squad is Samson C, Jaiswal VC, Mhatre, Noor.

Another rough one, not gonna lie. Back to back games now where it just hasn’t fallen my way and this one was even worse. Tilak as captain looked like a solid play going in but only returning 92 with the multiplier is just not enough. You need your captain to carry you in these early rounds and that just didn’t happen. Green as vice captain wasn’t much better either, 46.5 is a fine score pre-multiplier, so that was not good either. Varun dropping a -2 hurts as well, especially when you’re trying to build momentum early. No wickets from some of the best bowlers in the league like Varun, Bumrah and Boult while Shardul took 3 is a perfect example of how luck based this game can be at times. Those negatives always feel worse in the first few games because everyone’s so close together. Santner not playing at all just made it worse, playing a man down which you just can’t afford. It’s one of those rounds where pretty much every decision either didn’t come off or went the other way. But no point stewing in poor performances, it won't change anything. At this point it’s just about resetting and sticking to the process. Two unlucky games to start, but it only takes one big round to flip everything. Need to bounce back next game and get things moving.

Not going to be many changes here as I’ve already got three players lined up with Noor, Jaiswal and Mhatre. That gave me a solid base for this game so I just made one move. Trading Tilak out for Samson who I think will show his quality. I could've traded Santner out which I would've liked as he might not play again but I wouldn't have the funds for Samson who I REALLY want.

Noor feels like one of those picks that could really pay off. He’s got genuine wicket-taking ability and with this venue being more bowler friendly that’s exactly what you want. Even if he goes a bit expensive, that doesn't matter so much in Fantasy especially if he can take a couple wickets. Jaiswal is just a quality pick overall, if he gets going he can easily be one of the highest scorers in the match. Ayush had a very good 2025 season. He's up the order, perhaps opening and I'm willing to back him as CSK's young talent.

Samson coming in is the only decision I made this match and he’s a top order player who can anchor or accelerate depending on the situation, and that kind of flexibility is huge in fantasy. If he gets set, he has the ability to go big and be one of the top scorers in the match. We all saw his incredible form in the t20WC and we can expect that form to continue.

Other than those there are some other great picks. I could see Dube hitting a 50, might still bring him in. He’s one of those players who can turn a game quickly, especially if he gets a decent amount of time at the crease. CSK tend to back him in the finisher role and if things line up, he can deliver big points in a short span. Jadeja would be the best of the all-rounders who actually bat and bowl but at 10.5cr I can't fit him in unfortunately.

Overall, this is one of those rounds where I’m backing the players with a track record rather than going for differentials. After the last couple of games not going my way, it feels like the right time to trust the setup and hope it clicks. Hopefully this is the one where things turn and we get some big points on the board.

Unrelated but I made a Google sheet where you can see our scores tracked and which team's players to replace first. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12JQvv7niYLF3shVTgVtoeJCeW_vL-tPtUelm_2g5SVI/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for reading and I'll see you after the toss.