The Lucknow Supergiants take on the Gujarat Titans in the first match of an IPL 2023 doubleheader on Saturday, April 22, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
I made a last-minute captaincy change after an unexpected shift in the SRH opening pair and the switch netted me a few points.
Players playing in Match 29: Ruturaj Gaikwad (BAT) (CSK) (9.5 Credits), Rahul Tripathi (BAT) (SRH) (9 Credits), Aiden Markram (BAT) (SRH) (9 Credits), and Tushar Deshpande (BOWL) (CSK) (7 Credits).
Captain: Ruturaj Gaikwad. | Vice-captain: Rahul Tripathi.
Credits Remaining: 4.5.
Total Points: 9,383.5.
Overall Rank: 28,360.
POTM Picks: 7/29.
I have only one player from this fixture and will make two regular and one uncapped transfer.
Transfer Deadline: 3:30 pm IST, Saturday, April 22.
Note: The suggested team is subject to change depending on the toss or other unexpected team news. Any such changes will be updated for the next match day.
Transfers
Transfers Made: 2. | Transfers Remaining: 88.
1) Rahul Tripathi (BAT) (SRH) (9 Credits) - OUT | Hardik Pandya (ALL) (GT) (11 Credits) - IN.
2) Venkatesh Iyer (ALL) (KKR) (8.5 Credits) - OUT | Rashid Khan (ALL) (GT) (10.5 Credits) - IN.
3) Tushar Deshpande (BOWL) (CSK) (7 Credits) - OUT | Yudhvir Singh (BOWL) (LSG) (5 Credits) - IN (Uncapped Transfer).
As a KL Rahul fan, it's hard to prepare a transfer plan that doesn't include him when he's going through some tough times, but objectively, I don't see him scoring runs against this GT bowling attack on an unpredictable Lucknow wicket.
Hardik Pandya's batting at No.4 and bowling plenty of overs, and like Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh, he is simply a great option on paper, and picking him is too good an opportunity to miss.
The match is set to be played on the black soil wicket, and the last time that happened, we had a very low-scoring game, with the spinners ruling the roost. It would not be wise to go into this game without Rashid Khan, and while I'm still worried that LSG will simply look to play him out, GT could make it harder for them to do that by bowling him in the powerplay or in one of the slog overs.
Lastly, I felt it's better value in bringing in a bowler as an uncapped pick over a batter on what should be a slow wicket, with Yudhvir Singh looking a better option than Sai Sudharsan.
IPL Fantasy 2023 - Best Fantasy XI for Match 30 - LSG vs GT: Thoughts and Captaincy Tips
Players playing in Match 30: Yudhvir Singh (BOWL) (LSG) (5 Credits), Rashid Khan (ALL) (GT) (10.5 Credits), Hardik Pandya (ALL) (GT) (11 Credits), and Mohammed Shami (GT) (BOWL) (9 Credits).
Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, and Mohammed Shami should all be quality captaincy options for this match, but the toss should dictate my final decision.
Other players
Jitesh Sharma (WK) (PBKS) (6.5 Credits) | Next Fixture: vs MI, Match 31
Sam Curran (ALL) (PBKS) (9.5 Credits) | Next Fixture: vs MI, Match 31
Arshdeep Singh (BOWL) (PBKS) (8.5 Credits) | Next Fixture: vs MI, Match 31
Virat Kohli (BAT) (RCB) (11 Credits) | Next Fixture: vs RR, Match 32
Varun Chakravarthy (KKR) (BOWL) (8 Credits) | Next Fixture: vs CSK, Match 33
Ruturaj Gaikwad (BAT) (CSK) (9.5 Credits) | Next Fixture: vs KKR, Match 33
Aiden Markram (BAT) (SRH) (9 Credits) | Next Fixture: vs DC, Match 34
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