Transfers made – 0; Transfers remaining – 4
Rohit Sharma out – Karun Nair in (uncapped trick employed)
Batting captain – David Warner(flat)/ Gautam Gambhir(turner)
Bowling captain – Mustafizur Rahman
Batting captaincy options – David Warner, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan and Robin Uthappa
If it is a flat deck, it has to be Warner. KKR’s spin threat wouldn’t be an issue, as all their spinners barring Sunil Narine would spin in to Warner. And Narine is not in great form either.
However if it’s a turner, I would go in with Gambhir. His only threat on a dry deck would be Mustafizur Rahman, whom he tackled exceptionally well in the first game between the two sides. Also, left-handers have found it easy facing him throughout the tournament.
As usual, expect Manish Pandey to cash in if he comes in early.
Bowling captaincy options – Mustafizur Rahman, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Piyush Chawla
All 3 of them could give you a couple of wickets. With Mustafizur and Bhuvneshwar already in my team, I don’t see any use in getting Chawla in. Between the two, I would go with The Fizz again.
Nature of the deck – Could be anything. We have seen both flat decks and turners here. Last one though was flat.
Uncapped player options – Deepak Hooda, Ankit Rajpoot
Fantasy Clinchers
Unless Ben Cutting has recovered from his injury, I don’t see why SRH would change their playing XI. On most other days, Mustafizur would have been rested with Trent Boult replacing him, but with a loss now capable of pushing them out of top 2, they wouldn’t be experimenting with their team.
There is no real bankable reports on Umesh Yadav’s recovery, so it’s not sure whether he will be coming back into the team. With none of their overseas players performing well, it is impossible to guess what they will do with them either. Gambhir’s trust on Narine might just have him place, but the other 3 are in danger of losing out.
Match call – Without Andre Russell, KKR’s only shot at winning this match is to prepare a turner.
Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Obvious substitutions – Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Quinton De Kock
If DD play both NCN and Morris – Morris; If they play only Morris – Gayle
Batting captain – Virat Kohli
Bowling captain - Chris Morris/Yuzvendra Chahal
Batting captaincy options – Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock
Kohli and De Villiers are equally good options today, but I am settling with the former as usual. If the Daredevils play both Nathan Coulter Nile and Chris Morris, Chris Gayle could be in trouble. If not, he could be a decent differential. De Kock is a gamble worth taking as well considering how weak RCB’s bowling attack is.
Bowling captaincy options – Chris Morris, Shane Watson
Of the two, Morris is the one I will be getting in and hence it has to be him. Both could give you an easy couple of wickets, but anything more than that, you need a lot of luck. Yuzvendra Chahal is not a bad option as well.
Nature of the deck – Flat
Uncapped player order – Karun Nair (if he plays at 3), Yuzvendra Chahal
RCB – Fantasy Clinchers
There is absolutely no reason for them to change their playing XI. The biggest challenge they will face is the size of the boundaries in play at Raipur, which means they can’t go around trying to clear the ropes as they have done in most of the grounds they have played on so far.
DD – Fantasy Clinchers
DD’s team combination could very well decide their fate today. They would need both Coulter-Nile and Morris today to control the RCB batting unit, but to do that they would they have to sacrifice one of Carlos Brathwaite and JP Duminy. I would maybe throw Duminy considering that if it comes to him to rescue DD, they should have already lost the match.
Also I would back Morris and Brathwaite to play 20 balls each against the RCB bowling attack. The base, however, has to be set by De Kock. If he fails, DD would most probably fail too.
Match call – De Kock or Bust for DD
