Fantasy IPL 2018: The best uncapped player from each side

With less than 72 hours to go before the 11th season of the Indian Premier League kicks off, the much awaited official IPL fantasy game has now gone live. You can begin to set up your team by registering your teams on the website https://fantasy.iplt20.com/

As has been the case in the earlier seasons, the Fantasy game requires you to have a minimum of one uncapped Indian player in your 11 at all times. With a string of international debuts being handed over to deserving youngsters in the domestic circuit, such as Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur, it has become increasingly difficult to find uncapped options who could severely boost the strength of your team.

In this article, we take a look at the players who could possibly become the highest scoring uncapped players or give you the most value for money as you begin to build your teams with much bigger and costlier names.

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Mumbai Indians - Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan is expected to be the wicketkeeper for Mumbai Indians

Krunal Pandya was the highest paid uncapped player in the IPL Auction conducted this January, with ₹ 8.8 crores shelled out of the budget to keep him in the squad. As it goes, he is the costliest uncapped player in the Fantasy game as well, costing 0.85M of virtual cash. While the Pandya brothers could very well produce magic once again, for an uncapped player, the elder Pandya brother is an extremely costly bet. Until an air of certainty, with respect to his form, is established in the early days, it’s wise to look for other options, who are also nailed on in the team.

Former India U-19 captain, Ishan Kishan, thus becomes a player to consider for your Fantasy team. With ₹ 6.2 crores spent on his contract, he looks certain to be present in the first lineup of the season for Mumbai Indians. He comes at a price of 0.8M, and while you would argue what difference would 0.05M of cash make to the team, it could mean the difference between having either AB de Villiers (with an overseas tag) or the Indian captain Virat Kohli (who scored a record 973 runs, including 4 centuries, in the 2016 season). He is also a wicket-keeper, so that’s one more check to the list of criteria.

Chennai Super Kings - Deepak Chahar

The lack of Indian fast bowling options could mean Deepak Chahar starts!

In the auction, CSK went with the emotions and the experience as they tried to assemble their old squad back, and with an absence of a few players, notably Ravichandran Ashwin, they managed to assemble the core of the squad. While it probably would help with the team chemistry, what went wrong in the auction was the failure to acquire an experienced Indian fast bowler. A lot of burden, with respect to early breakthroughs with the new ball, is expected to be on England fast bowler Mark Wood and the recent Indian debutant Shardul Thakur. Dwayne Bravo could return to his bowling duties as well, and these three should help them complete at least half of the bowling innings.

They would still need another seam bowler before they look at the spinners and the part-timers to complete the bowling lineup for a match. Deepak Chahar is expected to be that man, who is coming off a strong performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with 19 wickets in 9 matches including a 5-wicket haul against Karnataka. He comes at 0.75M of virtual cash and is the costliest uncapped player on the team.

Kings XI Punjab - Mayank Agarwal

Mayank Agarwal would look to continue his strong run of form

If you’re looking for an uncapped player from Kings XI Punjab, then look no further beyond Mayank Agarwal. He scored an unprecedented 2,141 runs in the 2017/18 domestic season. He narrowly missed out on selection for the T20 tri-series in Sri Lanka, but that’s now good news for us fantasy players as he remains an uncapped player. His T20 form was strong as well as he scored 258 runs at a strike rate of 145, which included 3 half-centuries.

Expected to open the batting for Punjab, he comes at 0.8M, and is a must buy for your fantasy teams.

Delhi Daredevils - Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia can spin the web, and he is handy with the bat as well

We have been entertained by swashbuckling batsmen for over a decade now, but now it looks like we are slowly entering a period of wrist spinners, with Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav benefiting the most out of it so far. A demand for unorthodox spinners is on the rise, and Delhi Daredevils management were also one to notice as they bought Haryana lad Rahul Tewatia for ₹ 3 crores.

He could also be handy with the bat in the lower middle order, which could make him a regular feature in the Delhi Daredevils lineup. He comes at a price of 0.7M.

Kolkata Knight Riders - Shubman Gill

At 18, Shubman Gill is already a name being talked about!

One of the many players that came into the limelight as Rahul Dravid successfully led the India U-19 side to a 4th World Cup title, Shubman Gill, arguably, was the biggest star of the tournament. He was adjudged the player of the tournament, owing to his sheer consistency and his tally of 372 runs, the highest in the 2018 U-19 World Cup.

Kolkata Knight Riders had already spent a huge chunk of their budget on overseas players, including the now-injured Mitchell Starc, who is now going to miss the entire season. It was quintessential for them to fill up the squad with players who could have an impact, and would be immense value for money, and KKR ended up buying 3 players from the winning U-19 side for a cumulative fee of ₹ 8 crores.

Gill comes at 0.75M in the fantasy game and is widely expected to slot in the middle order alongside KKR captain Dinesh Karthik and vice-captain Robin Uthappa.

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz Khan, still uncapped, but perhaps we won't say this next season

It’s a surprise to quite a few on how Sarfaraz Khan is still an uncapped player, having already played IPL for the last 3 seasons. In fact, he was one among the three players that Royal Challengers Bangalore decided to retain, alongside Kohli and de Villiers. He has shown glimpses of his talent over his two U-19 World Cup campaigns and brief cameos with RCB. He’s still aged 20 and has ample time on his side, however, he must be looking at this season as the one where he makes a statement and a strong case to feature in the Indian cricket team.

He’s priced at 0.8M, so when you’re done including Kohli, de Villiers, and Chahal in your lineup, consider this guy if you intend to go all-in with RCB.

Rajasthan Royals - Krishnappa Gowtham

Karnataka spinner Krishnappa Gowtham almost landed a million dollar contract at the IPL auction.

In contrast to the other seasons where the Rajasthan Royals were often known for their Moneyball signings, they did something completely unexpected by spending big money on players such as Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, and Big Bash sensation Jofra Archer.

Another player to benefit from this heavy splurging was a little-known Karnataka spinner Krishnappa Gowtham. The bidding war for the 29-year old spinner was a surprise to many, as he had never featured in the IPL before – he didn’t feature for the Mumbai Indians despite being bought in the 2017 auction for a fee of ₹ 2 crores.

But surely his domestic performances didn’t go unnoticed as this time he pocketed a contract of ₹ 6.2 crores, which would surely have to make him a starter in the Rahane-led Royals. He’s available at a price of 0.7M.

Sunrisers Hyderabad - Basil Thampi

Basil Thampi could turn out to be the bargain buy of the season

He was adjudged The Emerging Player of the 2017 IPL, so it came out as a shock to some when Basil Thampi was signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a small fee of ₹ 95 lakhs. Call it a steal, or a piece of smart business, Sunrisers managed to pick up a quality Indian fast bowler that could partner well with star bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar and either Sandeep Sharma or Siddarth Kaul. The rest of the bowling is composed of Rashid Khan and one or two out of Shakib al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite and Chris Jordan, which makes them a highly potent bowling attack.

He is priced at 0.7M of virtual cash, which is unfair considering how he has cost them far less in real money. But if he gets a run of games, he will prove to be a bargain both in the real and the fantasy worlds.