How to create the best fantasy cricket team

Fantasy cricket fever is running as high as the IPL fever in the country. For those who haven’t tried it yet, it’s fun as you get to create your own team and earn points out of the performance of individual players. It’s a game of skill and your success or failure depends on your holistic understanding of the game. You have to think like the captain of your team as a good captain would know how to create the best fantasy cricket team.

But even captains need help so here we are for the most important tips on how to choose a winning fantasy cricket team. It isn’t easy but if you know the right things to focus on, it isn’t that difficult either. However, you have to know how to read the game and the players. Here we go!

#1 – Remember that you aren’t playing alone. Read the psyche of other players.

This is perhaps the most important tip that you will ever need. Fantasy cricket isn’t a match between your 11 players and some team of other 11 players. It’s your team’s competition with others, who will also choose a lot of popular players like you did. So it’s always going to one or two odd bets that will give you the edge over the others. So, don’t try to be too different from other players.

If you choose a lot of the popular players that you think others will also choose then you are not going to end up much lower than others. The top 6 players in your team could be the most popular players that you think others will also choose. The rest 5 players are where you are going to distinguish yourself from the others. These are the players that can make or break your chances of winning.

So once again, stick with the top 6 players that you think others will also choose so that you don’t lose out if those players perform. And if they don’t perform then it’s everyone’s loss and it still doesn’t affect your ranking vis-as-vis others.

#2 – Choose your team as late as you can

Wait for the team selection before you choose your team. This is essential so that you don’t end up choosing players who are not playing a particular match. If you do then you would practically be playing with a smaller team against others who will have all 11 players performing for them.

If you have the time and patience then you should ideally choose the team (if your fantasy cricket app allows) after you hear the pitch report and the toss result is out. If you know the game of cricket then you know that the pitch condition and the toss can affect the performance of various players. If you choose the time after the toss, then you have the flexibility to choose the players accordingly.

However, this would help only if you understand what changes to make based on the pitch report and the result of the toss.

#3 – Choose top-order batsmen from both teams

You must choose at least 1 batsman from the top-order (the first 3 players that come to bat) of each team. This is important as these batsmen have more overs to play and they can play without any pressure.

Choose more batsmen from the team that bats first as there is a higher chance that the batsmen from the chasing team might be under pressure and therefore might not be able to play their natural game.

However, it also depends on how many good batsmen are there in the team that bats first. So don’t make it a thumb rule, it is just a suggestion assuming that you have equally good batsmen playing from either side.

5 more tips (including how to choose a power player) on the next page