The batsmen and the bowlers for the Sports Pundit IPL Fantasy have been previewed and now it is the turn of the all-rounder and the wicket-keeper. Let us begin with the latter; the glovemen.
The few striking wicket-keepers who stand out from the crowd – the most obvious ones – are also the more costly ones. Indian and Chennai skipper M.S. Dhoni will end up playing in all the games and has a fair chance of batting up the order. Adam Gilchrist will open the inning and may like the ball coming on to the ball, making him an irresistible option but for the fact that his team Deccan Chargers play only three matches. If Brendon McCullum can be half as effective as what he had been in the previous season’s opener, then he should be worth the five units of budget, while Kumar Sangakkara is the best priced batsman-keeper at 4.
Mark Boucher looks a tad costly at five, while Dinesh Karthik may have only the dying-man-clutching-at-straws picking him at his high rate of five stars in the Sports Pundit IPL Fantasy. 
There is one greenhorn who does catch my eye, and this is for those who want to select someone different from the rest of the pack. Rajasthan Royals’ Naman Ojha – priced at three – could very well make his debut in the team and bat up the order for the Rajasthan Royals. The other wicket-keeper who could just be that value for money is Shreevats Goswami, a young diminutive guy from the Bangalore Royal Challengers who costs only one point. Goswami had featured in some of the matches in the previous season and impressed quite a few former greats with his neat wicket-keeping and reasonable willow-wielding.
Boucher may be a strong contender to don the ‘keeping gloves for the RCBs, but with the four foreigner rule in the picture, I suspect, that Goswami may have an edge over Boucher. If one wants to really play safe, then McCullum or Dhoni make for good, but costly options.
Amongst all-rounders, Chennai Super Kings has a barrage of them, and it wouldn’t come across as a huge surprise if one of three, Andrew Flintoff, Jacob Oram or Albie Morkel, do not top the charts for the amount of time they feature in the tournament. However, there is a caveat, apart from the simple fact that they cost five each. Oram is battling fitness and may not get to South Africa and Flintoff too has some injury woes and because of the series against West Indies will play in only a few matches. This makes the local boy, Albie Morkel as a strong contender and it make sense to play it safe and get him in. 
Andrew Symonds would have been a good option too, but he wouldn’t be a part of the side till the third week, while the likes of Scott Styris and Dwayne Smith are far too inconsistent to be considered.
It is the Kings XI Punjab team that entices me to pick the all-rounder from their side. There is a Yuvraj Singh and an Irfan Pathan; both of whom are absolute certainties to play in all the matches in the first period. Pathan, in fact, will be returning back to the place where he bowled the Indian team to many a famous win in the ICC World T20 and could be a red-hot favourite to pick the title.
I shall be back with more such tips before the tournament begins. Till then, happy selecting in the Sports Pundit IPL Fantasy!