Suleiman Benn

On India’s loss to the West Indies and Fantasy tips for the ICC World T20 Final

Posted on by Utkarsh Bhatla

ICC-T20

While India were just about getting over the line in all their league games in this T20 World Cup, who would have thought that ‘getting over the line’ would prove to be the reason for their downfall in their first knockout game.

When Dinesh Ramdin and Dwayne Bravo missed the stumps from 5 yards to run Virat Kohli out, it just seemed to be his day. And it was. He shone, with the light of a thousand stars, but the others (with probably just the exception of Dhoni) just flickered and ultimately ran out of fire.

Apart from Virat Kohli’s master class, everything seemed to go wrong for the Indians; the toss, the lack of acceleration in the first 10 overs, the dreaded ‘no balls’ and the lack of judgment from Jadeja in the outfield.

And when Andre Russell struck that massive six to finish off the game, there was this sense of disbelief in the crowd, in the players and the billion fans watching at home. None of them could actually muster as to what struck them. The Gayle storm had been evaded, so how could they lose? How could two players who had made a name for themselves in Indian Premier League actually go out and trounce the Indians in their backyard, especially in the semi final of a World Cup? When the adrenaline finally settled down and everyone got some time to process as to what had happened, the emotions started to flow. Some were teary eyed while others just sat there with their face and body showing signs of utter helplessness.

When you lose a close semi final or a final, you always want to get one more shot at it, and quickly. However, we’ don’t have that luxury, we’ll have to wait another three years for it(and maybe 20 years to have another World Cup in India)

Wait and Believe- That’s all we can do!

Let’s get to business now!

 

England vs West Indies- The Final

Transfers: 4

Transfer out: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey, Ashish Nehra

Transfer in: Joe Root, Lendl Simmons, DJ Bravo/Ben Stokes, Samuel Badree/Jason Roy

 

Few would have put their money on these two teams taking the field on April 3rd in Kolkata. But here we are, with the IPL heroes taking on the new age English team.

I already have Jos Buttler, David Wiley, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Jonathan Charles and Suleimann Benn in my side for this game.

Considering that it is a final and that a fresh wicket will be used for tomorrow’s game, I expect it to be a good batting wicket.

The first player I bring in is Joe Root. He has been a revelation for the England team in this World Cup and on a flat deck, I am pretty sure of him being amongst the runs.

DJ Bravo would be my next pick for this game, especially if West Indies bowl first as he’ll be sure to bowl is quota of four overs as opposed to defending a low score which the English batsmen could gobble up in less than 20 overs. Also, the dew could be a factor, while bowling second.

If, England bowl first, I would get Ben Stokes in as he could get a few cheap wickets at the back end of the innings and could also come in handy while chasing a total. Also, in this case I bring in Jason Roy even though he is not comfortable against spin, because the dew would render the spin threat useless.

Lendl Simmons is sure to earn a promotion to number 3 for this game. With the match winning performance in the last game, he is sure to be high on confidence and his knowledge of Eden Gardens should also come in handy. Get him in!

For my fourth pick, if the track assists spin and West Indies bowl first, Samuel Badree will get the nod. He has been brilliant for the Windies in the powerplay and would be able to take advantage of the susceptible nature of the English to quality spin bowling. But leave him out if West Indies bowl second because the dew will cause the ball to just skid on.

Let’s break it down into two cases

 

Case 1- England bat first

Screen Shot 2016-04-03 at 02.58.29

 The four players I bring in are Joe Root, Lendl Simmons, DJ Bravo and Samuel Badree.

Case 2- West Indies bat first

Screen Shot 2016-04-03 at 02.59.31

 I bring in Joe Root, Lendl Simmons, Ben Stokes and Jason Roy

I leave out Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan because of their erratic form throughout the tournament and I would like to bank on consistent performers on a big day. I go for Ben Stokes instead of Chris Jordan because of Stokes’ batting skills.

 Captain for this game: Chris Gayle

The forecast is for thunderstorm and I am sure the Gayle storm will not stay too behind.

This is the last article of this series and I hope you have enjoyed the Fantasy tips, strategies, match previews etc. But hey it’s not goodbye time as of now. For all of you who are playing the IPL Fantasy, do check out this space from the 8th of April. See you then.

Happy team picking!

Quantify your cricketing judgements: ICC World T20 Fantasy tips Day 16

Posted on by Utkarsh Bhatla

ICC-T20

Only sport can write such scripts, only sport can give such emotion and only sport can make a billion hearts beat together.

When Mushfiqur hit that lap shot for four in the last over, it felt like we had been sent back in time to the 2007 ODI World Cup. But anxiety and pressure can script plot twists like no great mystery writer can.

Hardik and the Indian team held their nerve. Mushfiqur and Mahumudullah didn’t, they went for glory. And that led to their downfall. No Indian fan will forget this day for a long time.

So after a well-deserved Holi break, let’s get down to business!

 

Pakistan vs Australia

Transfers: 2/3

Transfer out: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Corey Anderson(if Aus bat first)

Transfer in: Shane Watson, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell(if Aus bat first)

Screen Shot 2016-03-25 at 01.36.29.png

So much depends on this game. If Pakistan lose they will be knocked out of the tournament and the India Australia game would become an essential quarter-final. But if Pakistan win, there could be a three-way tie in this group.

Now, I already have Mohammad Amir, Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad in my team for this game and thus I will first concentrate on my options from the Australian team for this game.

The first player that I bring in is Shane Watson. This game is being played at Mohali, which has been one of the good batting surfaces in this tournament. He bats at the top of the order and bowls his four overs, a must to have on such a surface.

I have already explained why Smith is not a very good T20 player and hence I leave him out. Warner and Maxwell are way better in this format and you could even expect a demotion for Steve Smith tomorrow!

Khwaja has been brilliant in the first two games but I would still put more faith in Warner and Maxi as they have played more T20 cricket in India.

If Australia bat first, I bring in both Warner and Maxwell as I expect Australia to put a huge total on board. But if Australia bat second, I bring in just Warner because Pakistan’s unpredictable batting line up could have a major collapse and thus Maxwell’s batting wont be of much use.

Now, the problem I am having with bringing both of them in is that I have to transfer out Corey Anderson instead of Moeen Ali/Adil Rashid because of the cost constraint. And Corey plays one game before these two English players. So if you want to transfer out Corey you can bring both Maxi and Warner in but if you don’t want to then either you can get Khwaja in instead of Maxi or you can just save the transfer!

I don’t pick any bowlers on this track because it is a batsmen’s surface and at most you could end up getting a wicket or two, which is not enough at this stage of the tournament. I’d rather save the transfer.

Captain for this game: Shane Watson (For his all round capabilities)

 

South Africa vs West Indies

 Transfers: 4

 Transfer out: Shane Watson, David Warner, Corey Anderson/Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Amir

 Transfer in: Chris Gayle, ABD, Suleimann Benn, Imran Tahir

Screen Shot 2016-03-25 at 02.06.35

This promises to be a cracker! West Indies and South Africa both have power hitters and both have some good spinners to exploit the conditions at Nagpur. The pitch for this game has been changed but Du Plesis feels that spin will still have a big role to play.

You need to understand that Nagpur has a really dry climate and with summer in full force, the pitches are bound to get even drier and assist spin even more. In all probability even the new pitch would assist spin and thus we will have to bring in the spin wizards from both teams into our Fantasy 11.

The first player that I bring in Imran Tahir because his skill with the ball has been on display not just on turning pitches in India but everywhere around the world. And you can only imagine how deadly he could be on a rank turner.

West Indies play two games in the space of four matches and thus it would be wise to bring in a few West Indians for this game.

The first West Indian that I bring in is Chris Gayle. West Indies play both their games in Nagpur and though the pitch would assist spin I just can’t take chances with Gayle going big in any of these games. It may sometimes look that he just bludgeons the ball but Gayle is a very intelligent batsmen. He knows which bowlers to play out and which to target. I can’t take the risk of not getting him in for two games!

Now, I also want to get ABD in because he is a great player against spin and nullifies the effect of spin by using his feet and getting to the pitch of the ball. Quinton De Kock is more of a flat pitch bully and wouldn’t have much success on this pitch. I ignore Amla and Du Plessis because I just want to get one South African batsmen in my team and ABD seems the best bet.

So now the only other West Indian player that I can get in is Suleimann Benn. The cost constraints prevent me for going with Bravo and Russell and I have to leave them out and hope that they do not make much of an impact. Bravo would at max chip in with two wickets and Russell could get a proper beating on this surface because he hits the deck hard and wouldn’t get much assistance from the surface.

Captain for this game: ABD(if South Africa bat first)/Imran Tahir(if South Africa bat second)