The Sports Pundit Fantasy IPL has already begun, and I shall be previewing all the games in this column. The rules have already been explained on this website, but for those who haven’t had the opportunity to go through them, I shall reiterate some of the important, which in turn will help set the context for this column.
Every user can create one fantasy cricket team and their team will score based on the players’ actual on-field performances. The scoring chart has been put up on the website too and to give you an idea, there are points to be scored for every 10 runs scored or every wicket scalped by the bowler. There will be five scoring periods, and each of these periods will be associated with a maximum of six transfers. Thus, every user can make up to six transfers in every period that is available for play.
The tournament begins from the 18th of April, and there are unlimited transfers that a user can make till the 17th. After that, the six-transfer rule sets in. The first period of play in the Sports Pundit Fantasy IPL is from 18th April, 2009 to 26th April, 2009 and for this piece, we shall concentrate on the first period only.
For me, the first period is the most important one in this game and the reasons are not similar to the reasons why the first six overs in a T20 match are important. The biggest – and the simplest in turn – reason behind the vitality is that this is the only period which will see 15 matches being played, making it the single longest period of all. The others have 13, 11, 11 and nine respectively, thus making it tougher for the teams to play catch up with those who have already taken the leads in the first period.
The second reason why this first period of Sports Pundit Fantasy IPL is rather important is because the users have only six transfers available for each of them and to sustain them over 15 matches will be a difficult ask. This would essentially mean that the users will need to get it right the first time around itself and then if there are injuries or bad performances the players can be replaced with others.
Last, and certainly not the least, it is very important for the users to know the number of matches every team will feature in, during that period. Talking about the first period, the Bangalore Royal Challengers top the list with five matches, followed by Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab with four each. The rest of the teams play three matches.
This would essentially mean that one would need to pick one’s Sports Pundit Fantasy IPL team with the Royal Challengers in mind. While the Royal Challengers’ performance in the first season hadn’t been up to the scratch, it is worth remembering that one needs to pick up individuals from the team whom one thinks will keep performing despite the team’s results. The same will have to be thought about the other teams who would play four games each.
That is it for this piece, but rest assured, I shall be back with more tips on which will be the best team under the circumstances to be picked. It may not be an exact or a rocket science, but a few pointers and a huge dollop of gut-feel will go a long way in getting closer to that grand prize!