Transfers made – 0 (2); Transfers remaining – 41 (39)
Virat Kohli out – Murali Vijay in (Flat deck)
(uncapped) Shahbhaz Nadeem out – KC Carippa in
Batting captain/ Full match captain – Gautam Gambhir
Bowling captain – Andre Russell/Mohit Sharma (if KXIP bowl first)
*Bring in Mohit Sharma in place of one of your uncapped players if KXIP bowl first and captain him as well
Batting captaincy options – Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey and Murali Vijay
Murali Vijay faces a better attack compared to the other three, so he will be the first one to make his way out. And it’s not worth the risk anyway considering his inability to make it really big.
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I don't believe in banking on a team’s one-down player in T20s when both its openers are in good form, so that rules Pandey out as well. This is not to say Pandey will fail today, but if you captain him, you are basically hoping for one of the openers to get out soon – which is not how I like to play.
Between Gambhir and Uthappa, Gambhir has looked more dependable and is a better bet against today's Kings XI attack too. Uthappa, an LBW suspect, has to deal with Sandeep who will be swinging it in and an SLA in Axar Patel whose angle could make it difficult for him to slog.
Gambhir, on the other hand, being an exceptionally good player of spin bowling, just needs to escape the early swing on offer.
Nature of the deck – Could be anything
In the two matches played at the venue so far, one aided spin bowling, while the other looked like a perfect road. Watch out for what the captains say at the toss and decide accordingly.
Bowling captaincy options – Mohit Sharma, Andre Russell, Umesh Yadav
Andre Russell’s potential depends a lot on the type of bowling attack that KKR field today and the deck the match is going to be played on. If it’s a turner, KKR will just bowl their spinners all through; with him in my team, I am hoping for a flat deck here.
Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma are designated death overs specialists for their respective teams, and that always helps from the fantasy perspective. The same can’t be said for their teams though.
Piyush Chawla and Sunil Narine will obviously come into play on turners.
Uncapped picks – Kuldeep Yadav, Anureet Singh, KC Cariappa and Suryakumar Yadav
KKR – Fantasy clinchers
Depending on the nature of the deck, Shakib Al Hasan or Colin Munro could replace Chris Lynn.
Manish Pandey’s comeback will push Suryakumar Yadav back to No.7, and hence, I don’t see any role for him in fantasy teams further in the tournament.
Morne Morkel, despite his impressive showing in the last game, could get dropped for an overseas spinner if it’s a slow deck as we have seen a number of times before with KKR, who prefer horses for courses than blindly sticking to the winning combination.
Kings XI – Fantasy clinchers
With Shaun Marsh ruled out, Farhaan Behardien could replace him in the team. This might see Wriddhiman Saha coming back to No.3 if an early wicket falls.
Maxwell historically has a very poor record against the Knight Riders, who choke him down with their spinners. Unless he tries to tone his aggression down, I expect more of the same today.
David Miller seems to have been confined to a finisher’s role, so that reduces his fantasy potential considerably.
Match call: Kolkata Knight Riders to ace it.
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