IPL Fantasy Guru: Fantasy potential of Virat Kohli and Robin Uthappa on the rise

Robin Uthappa is Guru’s pick as PP for the KKR vs RR match

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 47

Robin Uthappa in – Suresh Raina out

Praveen Tambe in – Sandeep Sharma out

Captaincy pick – Robin Uthappa

Guru’s team for KKR vs RR

The last time I picked Robin Uthappa, it was more of a budget pick. But this time around, the 29-year-old gets in purely based on merit. The shots that he played in the lost cause against Sunrisers Hyderabad showed signs of a man returning to form. With KKR playing thrice in a span of 6 matches, you wouldn’t want to miss out on him. That he can return points through wicket-keeping makes him my power player for the match.

Uthappa’s Achilles heel is swing bowling, and apart from Dhawal Kulkarni, none of Rajasthan Royals’ pacers can actually exploit it. He usually rides bounce well and hence should see off Chris Morris’s threat. Gautam Gambhir, on the other hand, won’t find it easy against the pace heavy attack.

Steven Smith should again come into play, as I expect an early wicket to fall with the Knight Riders bowlers in top form and I hope it is Shane Watson who would be making his way back. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ajinkya Rahane helps himself to yet another half-century, but accelerating from then on won’t be easy against the pace of Umesh Yadav and Morne Morkel.

Deepak Hooda would be my first choice uncapped player for this match. While I would love to have Suryakumar Yadav, my combination doesn’t permit it, and hence I would have to settle with Pravin Tambe.

If you can afford SK Yadav, do get him in – as I don’t see Tambe making an impact against the Knight Riders top 5 who are usually very good players of spin bowling. It is true that the young batsman hasn’t been amongst the points after the first match, but that is more due to his reckless shot selection than anything else.

Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 46

JP Duminy in – Steve Smith out

Yuzvendra Chahal in – Praveen Tambe out

Captaincy pick – Virat Kohli

DD vs RCB

It was such a brilliant sight watching Royal Challengers Bangalore play the way they did in the last match, against Rajasthan Royals. Promoting himself, Virat Kohli played some sublime strokes – a clear indicator of him being in his elements. He would be my captain for this encounter.

The 26-year-old’s decision to open has not only increased his fantasy potential but has also made way for AB de Villiers to have a much bigger impact than he previously used to have in this set-up. While I don’t expect de Villiers to come in at No.3 always, RCB may have just shown us that they won’t be negative in their usage of the South African stalwart anymore.

Even if he comes in around the 8th over, as against the 12th over mark before, it makes it extremely difficult to leave him out from our fantasy teams: as we all know, all he needs is 20 deliveries to make you regret.

I will leave out Chris Gayle, as Nathan Coulter-Nile stands a very good chance of getting rid of him. If Coulter-Nile doesn’t, it would make things a little tricky, as Gayle loves playing the leg-spinners, but that’s a gamble worth taking given I already have 3 RCB players in my team.

Coming to the Daredevils side of it, JP Duminy would be the only player I will draft in. Apart from Yuzvendra Chahal, there isn’t any real concern for him against the Kohli-led team, and being an off-spinner, he should fancy his chances against Gayle as well. I expect Kohli and de Villiers to nullify the threat of Imran Tahir, so he stays out. Dinesh Karthik is quite a good player of spin bowling too.

Shreyas Iyer would be my first choice uncapped player pick for the match - he just has to see through Starc and make sure he doesn’t fall for the Harshal Patel slower ball trap.

Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 45

David Warner in – JP Duminy out

Sandeep Sharma in – Shreyas Iyer out

Captaincy pick – David Warner

KXIP vs SRH

With Shaun Marsh already in my team, I don’t really see any other KXIP player worth getting in. The Australian southpaw enjoys playing at Mohali and he should be looking forward to this fixture after a disappointing showing against Chennai Super Kings yesterday.

I would get in David Warner, as on a true batting wicket, all he has to do is see off Sandeep Sharma and there will be plenty of runs for the taking. Akshar Patel is usually Bailey’s go-to man in such circumstances, but him being a left-arm bowler will make it easy for Warner. Shikhar Dhawan takes one too many chances while at the crease, and I would not want to waste my substitution on him.

Sandeep would obviously get the nod for the uncapped player’s slot. There is a decent chance that he could run through the Sunrisers top order if Warner falls early.