IPL Fantasy Guru: High-profile matches demand high-profile substitutions

I must admit that I couldn’t have asked for a better second week. I badly needed something to go my way after an extremely disappointing start (although I wasn’t alone), and the moves to captain David Warner, Steven Smith and Imran Tahir worked wonders. It also helped that the usual suspects like James Faulkner, Glenn Maxwell, and Trent Boult (during SRH’s match against RR) turned out to be duds. Let’s now have a look at this weekend’s fixtures:

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings

Transfers made – 2; Transfers remaining – 64

Sanju Samson out – Brendon McCullum in

Steven Smith out – Suresh Raina in

Pravin Tambe out – J Suchitch in

Captain – Suresh Raina

With Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson already in, I don’t really see the need for any other Mumbai Indians player in my team. While Kieron Pollard could easily blast his way to yet another half-century, I pin my hopes on him not getting enough deliveries to produce an impact performance for a couple of reasons:

Aaron Finch’s continued failures at the top was one of the reasons why Mumbai’s big hitters – Anderson and Pollard – were getting good time at the crease in the first three matches. He is now ruled out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury. If Lendl Simmons, who is most likely to replace him, does his job, Pollard’s role will be limited. Simmons’ opening partner Parthiv Patel usually consumes a lot of deliveries as well.

With an in-form Anderson at No.5, Rohit’s demotion to No.4 only makes the middle order strong – and that will further delay the entry of Pollard. Don’t look too much into the couple of ducks that Rohit has scored in the last two matches. If anything, it only improves his chances of scoring in this encounter.

Suresh Raina has had a silent couple of matches so far, but you can’t really connect it to any logic. It is not as if he isn’t in form or that he was outplayed. In the first match, he missed pretty much a straight delivery from Nathan Coulter-Nile; in the second, he was run-out. This could very well be his day. On a flat deck and against a weak bowling attack, Raina should come good – and he is my Power Player for the game as well.

The issue with MS Dhoni has always been his batting position. You can’t predict when he will decide to promote himself. Even if two of Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Raina and Faf du Plessis click, Dhoni wouldn’t have much of a say in the match.

I will have to pick one among Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum, but it is not an easy choice. It doesn’t help that both of them have the same weakness – spin bowlers. While it is true that Smith is also susceptible against swing, in India, it is not such a big factor. I have decided to go ahead with McCullum because my team needs a wicket-keeper, and I can’t see a better option at this point.

J Suchitch would be my uncapped player for this match. The plan was to get him in ahead of the SRH vs RR match, but with the Sunrisers dropping Kane Williamson, I saw an opportunity for Pravin Tambe to do well against a weak Sunrisers middle order and it worked out quite well.

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Daredevils

SRH vs DD

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining – 63

Rohit Sharma out – Yuvraj Singh in

J Suchitch out – Anureet Singh in (uncapped player trick employed)

Captain – Imran Tahir

I have two of Sunrisers’ best scoring options in my team in David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan. Despite being a left-hander, Warner won’t find it easy handling the Daredevils’ leg-spinning duo, but he has the potential to do enough even before their introduction. Dhawan, on the other hand, can be expected to cash in on the slower bowlers.

Sunrisers have a potent new ball bowling unit in Boult, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Praveen Kumar, so I don’t really see the Daredevils openers lasting long, which will bring JP Duminy and Yuvraj Singh into play. I had Yuvraj in for the first two matches expecting him to play the kind of knock he did against Kings XI Punjab, but he chose to do so after I decided to drop him. Fantasy Gods are cruel at times.

Yuvraj gets the nod again ahead of Duminy. He looks as good as he has ever been. While the bouncer trap is always there, you also need to have some pace to trouble him; and apart from Boult, none of the Sunrisers bowlers bowl at high speeds. Imran Tahir would be my captain for this match – guaranteed points.

Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders

KXIP vs KKR

Transfers made – 1; Transfers remaining- 62

David Warner out – Steven Smith in (budget compensation)

Deepak Hooda out – SK Yadav in

Captain – SK Yadav/Sandeep Sharma

Gautam Gambhir has ridden his luck all along against the pacers and has only smashed the spinners so far in the competition. I don’t expect that to continue for long, definitely not against Mitchell Johnson and Co. Even at his best, Robin Uthappa struggles against quality pace bowling, which rules him out too.

I don’t find any other KKR player worth considering here. Andre Russell could cash in on the weak death bowling, but he is not someone you would bank on especially when he bats lower down the order – even more so when he occupies an overseas slot. I see better options in the matches lined up next, so I am not going to waste my substitutions here.

Same applies to Kings XI. Virender Sehwag has threatened to break free in the last couple of matches, but when he is getting out to spinners, you know he is not at his best. The middle order appears unsettled with Glenn Maxwell being demoted to No.5 following his abject performances in the first couple of matches and David Miller hasn’t clicked as well.

Suryakumar Yadav and Sandeep Sharma are the best captaincy options available. While Yadav is in some serious form, Sandeep will be bowling to a suspect top order.

Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings

Transfers made – 0; Transfers remaining – 62

Sandeep Sharma out – Deepak Hooda in

Captain – Steve Smith/Suresh Raina/Brendon McCullum

CSK vs RR match

With Steven Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina and Brendon McCullum already in my team, I don’t think I need any other player for this match. Smith has a liking for the Super Kings ever since his Pune Warriors days and hence I would captain him. Logically, too, there is not a single bowler in the Super Kings team who can get him out.

Deepak Hooda would obviously be my first choice uncapped player for this match.

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians

Transfers made – 4; Transfers remaining – 58

Shikhar Dhawan out – Rohit Sharma in

Steven Smith out – AB de Villiers in

’Suresh Raina out – Virat Kohli in

Brendon McCullum out – Chris Gayle in

Captain – Chris Gayle/Virat Kohli

Uncapped player for this match will be picked on the basis of the previous 4 matches

RCB vs MI (Not complete –/+50K budget, adjust uncapped player accordingly)

This would be an absolute run-fest. Mumbai Indians have probably the weakest bowling attack in this edition of the IPL and I expect the likes of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers to make complete use of it. Royal Challengers’ bowling attack is nothing to write home about either.

It may appear as if I am overdoing it by bringing in all the RCB big shots in, but the Royal Challengers play twice in a span of 5 matches. They will be facing the Super Kings at their home on April 22, and if Mitchell Starc is fit for this encounter, here is where the MS Dhoni-led team’s unbeaten run this season should stop. So, I believe the overhaul of my team is totally worth it.

Rohit Sharma makes his way in as well. The pitch is tailor-made for him, and if he gets enough deliveries, he will make as much damage as anyone can.

I have been getting a lot of requests to create a fantasy league from the regular followers of my column. So, here you go:

League name: Sportskeeda Fantasy Guru

League code: 85101