Own IPL Fantasy League with These 9 Proven Tips

IPL has taken the cricket mania in India to new heights. With the introduction of  the IPL Official Fantasy League, die-hard cricket fans can now not only watch the game but can have a piece of the action by implementing cricket strategies of their own.

If you are hooked to your TV and computer screens during the long IPL season trying to get the combination perfect, we are here with 9 proven tips that will help you soar to the top of the leader board in the IPL Fantasy League.

1. Pitch and Playing Conditions:

You can choose up to 6 batsmen or bowlers in the IPL Fantasy League. Additionally, you have to pick a minimum of 3 of each of these. The first thing is to get this combination correct. You need to select the right number of bowlers and batsmen.

The main criteria for this would be the pitch and playing conditions. You would be better off packing your squad with more batsmen on the flat tracks of the Chinnaswamy while slipping an extra spinner is a smart move if the venue is Eden Gardens.

2. Balance Selections from Both the Playing Teams:

One rookie mistake in IPL Fantasy League is to pick all your players from one of the playing teams only. Most matches in IPL are pretty tight affairs with both teams performing evenly across most stats. The margins between winning and losing are wafer-thin in this format. You would want to capitalise on the stellar performances from both teams!

3. Ride the Wave of In-Form Players:

We agree with the old cricketing wisdom,” Form is temporary while class is permanent.” However, IPL is a fast-paced tournament. Many teams in the past have ridden on a sudden purple patch to make their way to a championship victory.

As a Fantasy League player, you would want to tap into these crucial sudden bursts in performance. Short term gains are much better here than long term performances. Always pick the batsman who has strung up a chain of 30s in the last few innings or the bowler who has snapped a handful of wickets in recent matches.

4. Tap into the Hidden Talents

Often when a batsman is on a rampage in IPL and dealing only in mammoth sixes, captains are at their wit’s end as to whom to bowl. Many times, in such scenarios they toss the ball to the star opening batsman in the team who only rolls half a dozen overs of casual off-spin in the nets. We all know what happens from there onwards. The part-time spinner has a shining arm day and bags a couple of crucial scalps turning the game on its head.

As a fantasy league strategist, you could benefit from such rare bonanzas by picking batsmen who also roll their arms occasionally.

5. Death Bowlers bring Exponential Gains

There is a reason why Lasith Malinga is the poster boy of IPL death overs. The death overs are crucial when the batting team very often runs away with the game by collecting 60+ runs in the last 4 overs. Conversely, this is where great death bowlers tighten the noose and choke the batting team to doom. Think Sunil Naraine.

Long story short, skilful death bowlers will bring exponential benefits. You must always death-over specialists in your squad.

6. Gamble with Spinners

Spinners are the real googly picks in IPL Fantasy League. If one of the power hitters in the opposing team gets a good measure of your spinners, they can be extremely expensive and ruin the whole game. On the other hand, if one of your slow bowlers gets into his rhythm and turns the magic on, he will single handily win you the match. You can have a light laugh along the way, as the wily fox fools and deceives his preys in the process!

7. All Rounders can be the Lucky Charm

All Rounders can be your lucky mascot on any match day. All-rounders are a rare species. In most of the matches, they will silently go about their business quickly getting through with a couple of cheap overs, and chipping in with a vital knock of 20 odd runs. You would hardly notice these crucial contributions which in most post-match analyses turn out to be the winning advantage.

However, when one of your all-rounders has his lucky day, then you see their full power. He will own the whole match from start to finish. Wherever you look, you would find that all-rounder on the park. He would pluck all the incredible catches from thin air, score all the big hits and get those crucial game-turning scalps. Always be generous while picking all-rounders!

8. Wicket keeper keeps a Lot More than Only Wickets

Another of those characters on the cricket field who are only conspicuous when they do not perform, the wicket-keeper in your team can be a vital cog.

You would only know the number of runs these silent workhorses save on a matchday when you sit down to tabulate the data many hours after the post-match ceremonies have finished.

In the modern game, wicket-keepers also score with the bat. Some of them actually score might big with their willows. Case in point, a certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni!

Try to pick a keeper who also smashes a few balls out of the park!

9. Attitude Flows from Top-Down in IPL – Savvy Leaders

Leadership is critical in IPL as the captain has to make important decisions on the fly. The right decision at just the right time can make or break the game in the dynamic format of IPL.

Even more crucially, as per the IPL Fantasy League Game Rules, the captain gets 2x points and the vice-captain 1.5 x points. In IPL Fantasy League, a captain and a vice-captain truly lead from the front.

All-rounders are great picks for captains and vice-captains. By performing with both the bat and the ball, they increase your chances of making more 2x and 1.5x multiples of performance points.

Also, smartly use the playing conditions information to choose the captain. If it is a flat belcher of a pitch, your captain should be the muscular power-hitter who is likely to bag half a dozen sixers in the match.

IPL Fantasy League is an engrossing fun-filled game that will keep you hooked for hours of cricket frenzy. The strategies are endless and you are only limited by your imagination in picking out your perfect power-tip for this amazing game!