IPL 2014: Fantasy Guru - Watch Schedule Mantra at work

The other options that you have are Rajat Bhatia and Pravin Tambe. Tambe is more a wicket-taking option, while Bhatia is more conservative. Given a choice, I would always go with Tambe, as he is the Royals’ strike weapon.

Manish Pandey is what you would ideally term as a flat track bully. Given the variety that the Royals’ possess in their bowling armoury and the longer boundaries, he would find it difficult to do anything substantial.

I would go in with Tambe for tomorrow, as he will be up against a weak batting order that can implode anytime.

Simply put, Samson could score, but he wouldn’t make us feel for leaving him out; Tambe could wreck the Knights and make us bleed. When in doubt look at if the opposition has Yusuf Pathan, and you will get a clear idea.

Mumbai Indians vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad:

Guru’s team for MI vs. SRH match

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 49

Glenn Maxwell out – Lasith Malinga inCaptain – Aaron Finch

I have already got Rohit Sharma, Aaron Finch and Ambati Rayudu for this game.

I would love to have Darren Sammy, who was in my team so far for all of Sunrisers’ matches. I have never been in support of having players who come in at No. 5 or 6, as they don’t always get a chance to make an impact. Sammy and Sunrisers were a totally different kettle of fish, as, after the top 3, Sunrisers would have to turn to him for providing the finish. Sadly, they seem to be oblivious to it and continue to promote Venugopal Rao.

While Rao may very well get dropped after a couple of miserable performances, it would either be Naman Ojha and Manprit Juneja who will be coming in at number 5 and not Sammy. This fear chases me away from getting him back in the team.

When it comes to Mumbai, what tempts me is the fact that Mumbai fit into the Schedule Mantra: 2 matches in a 3-match round. I would like to go in with one more Mumbai Indians player. The choice here has to be between Kieron Pollard and Lasith Malinga.

Pollard, against Delhi Daredevils, showed clear signs of why I had wanted him in for the last two Mumbai Indians’s matches. The moment I saw him connect Yuzvendra Chahal, I knew he was close to back being the monster that he can be. With the second fixture in a good batting deck back in Mumbai, he could give points. However, the fact that Mumbai are experimenting too much with their batting order keeps me away from going for it.

On the other hand, Lasith Malinga against Sunrisers Hyderabad (weak middle order) and Kings X1 Punjab (an uncertain top 3 and a clueless tail order) doesn’t take too much thinking. So Malinga, after being out of my team for the last couple of fixtures (one came off very well, while a brain fade from Dinesh Karthik messed up the other to an extent), finds his spot again in my team.

Uncapped player pick:

Dale Steyn and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will takes minutes to sort out Aditya Tare, while Karn Sharma should fancy a couple of middle order wickets.

Chennai Super Kings vs. Kolkata Knight Riders:

Guru’s team for the CSK vs. KKR match

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 48

Aaron Finch out – Dwayne Smith inKarn Sharma out – Ishwar Pandey inCaptain – Suresh Raina

Quite obviously, the KKR part is done with. As regards to CSK, while I had gone with Brendon McCullum ahead of Dwayne Smith so far, Dwayne Smith makes his way in for this fixture, as he has a better account of Sunil Narine, the opposition’s major threat. It was on show for everyone to see when he negated his fellow countryman’s threat with ease in the last year’s match at Eden Gardens while representing Mumbai Indians.

With Suresh Raina in the team, I see no need for any other player to be considered. Yes, Mohit Sharma is picking up wickets in the last couple of games, but it is only a matter of time before he is being ripped apart by batsmen.

Uncapped player pick:

Ishwar Pandey against Manish Pandey and Gautam Gambhir, both of whom are susceptible to swing, looks good for a couple of wickets.