GameDay Squad IND Fantasy Cricket: Review and Preview: In this blog we will have a brief look at the previous and upcoming rounds of the IPL. Over the last week, who's performances stood out and which players made the GDS Squad of the round. For the week ahead, we will look at one player in each match that coaches should consider starting or one player that they should be avoiding. Have a read below and gain an edge over your competition. Let us know your thoughts on who we have down below on all of our social channels: twitter, facebook, instagram, discord.
GDS Squad of the week for rounds 46-52
WKT - Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals) -114 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai Indians) - 150 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans) - 141 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Sai Sudharsan (Gujarat Titans) - 138 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Abhishek Sharma (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - 103 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Axar Patel (Delhi Capitals) - 97 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Cameron Green (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) - 86 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Daryl Mitchell (Chennai Super Kings) - 85 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - 91 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Yash Dayal (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) - 90 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Harshal Patel (Punjab Kings) - 76 GDS Fantasy Points
Squad Total 1171 points
How many of these players did you start?
Performance of the week
This week this award goes to Suryakumar Yadav. Yadav helped the Mumbai Indians to a well-earned victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai with an innings of 102 runs off 51 balls. This was his best innings of the season, and it earned him his place in the squad of the round for the fourth time. He is now the best performing player from the Mumbai Indians alongside Tilak Varma with an average of 47.7 points. With Sharma and Kishan struggling for runs at the top of the batting order, Yadav is a genuine starting option for GDS coaches at the WK/BAT position. Many players at this position are risky options and Yadav fits into this category as he has only made the squad of the round in four of his ten matches. If you like his matchup against certain bowling attacks, he should be able to put in a solid performance for coaches and as we saw against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he has a very high ceiling.
Riser
This week the riser award goes to Abhishek Sharma. Sharma has quietly gone about his business this season and averages 48.4 points across his 12 matches. As he is an all-rounder that has only bowled three overs this season, I think he is having a fantastic season and he is currently ranked 7th in the GDS all-rounder rankings. Sharma has featured in the squad of the round on eight occasions and with his next match being against the Titans in Hyderabad, I believe he is a must start. At only 23 years old, it looks like Sharma has a very bright future ahead of him. As GDS has the dynasty aspect to its platform, Sharma would be a player that I would look to acquire as soon as possible. Especially with the Sunrisers on track to make it to the finals.
Faller
This week the faller award goes to Mitchell Starc. KKR might be a bit disappointed with Starc's performances this season after spending a record 24.75cr on him in the IPL auction. He has only taken 12 wickets at a strike rate of 17.42. In GDS he is averaging 33.2 points and is ranked 30th in the GDS bowler rankings. In Starc's 11 matches, he has only managed to make the squad of the round on two occasions. This is not what GDS coaches want to see and I wouldn't be surprised if we see him not selected in a lot of squads for KKR's next match against the Titans.
Upcoming matches for rounds 53-59
Round 53 - Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Top performing players at each position (minimum 7 matches)
BAT - Sai Sudharsan averaging 56.8 points
WKT - Phil Salt averaging 57.5 points
AR - Sunil Narine averaging 90.3 points
BWL - Harshit Rana averaging 41.6 points
After starting the season with a powerful display with the bat against the Sunrisers, Russell has featured more as a bowler for KKR as the season has gone on. He averages 54.5 points over his 12 matches, 23.8 points via the bat and 29.3 points with the ball. Russell is a genuine all-rounder that is ranked 2nd in the all-rounder rankings, and he has made the squad of the round on ten occasions. Russell is a must start in every match that KKR play and with them looking destined for the finals, I would be trying to acquire his card if you don't already have one.
Round 54 - Delhi Capitals vs Lucknow Super Giants
Top performing players at each position (minimum 7 matches)
BAT - Jake Fraser-McGurk averaging 59.3 points
WKT - KL Rahul averaging 59.6 points
AR - Marcus Stoinis averaging 49.7 points
BWL - Kuldeep Yadav averaging 48.8 points
David Warner returned from injury in the Capitals last match against RCB and he didn't trouble the scores as he was dismissed for just the one run. This was his fifth innings in a row where he has not managed to score more than 20 runs and over these five matches, he averages 14 points. What also works against him is that he was used as the impact player against RCB, and this took away any additional fielding points he may have scored. With the likes of Rahul, JFM, Pant and Pooran all averaging 44+ points this season, I'll be benching Warner in this match.
Round 55 - Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings
Top performing players at each position (minimum 7 matches)
BAT - Yashasvi Jaiswal averaging 37.8 points
WKT - Sanju Samson averaging 56.8 points
AR - Riyan Parag averaging 54.8 points
BWL - Harshal Patel averaging 47.1 points
A few reports indicate that Shikhar Dhawan is on track to return from injury for this match and boy do PBKS need him at the top of their batting order. He has only played the five matches this season and has an average of 42.8 points. The reason I'm mentioning Dhawan ahead of this match is because he might be the forgotten man of the IPL this season as he hasn't played since the 9th of April. If you don't have him in your squad, you might be able to find him on the transfer market at a discount. If he does play in this match, personally I'd prefer playing him ahead of Bairstow or Jaiswal.
Round 56 - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Gujarat Titans
Top performing players at each position (minimum 7 matches)
BAT - Travis Head averaging 64.7 points
WKT - Heinrich Klaasen averaging 43.3 points
AR - Abhishek Sharma averaging 48.4 points
BWL - Pat Cummins averaging 46.5 points
After being ranked as the best bowler in 2023 IPL with an average of 51.1 points, Mohit Sharma hasn't delivered for GDS coaches this season as he is only averaging 28 points. In his last match he came up against CSK and had his best performance of the season, taking three wickets and scoring 72 points. This last performance might be the start of some form for Sharma but when you have the likes of Cummins and Natarajan that have performed well in Hyderabad this season, Sharma becomes a risky third bowler option for your squad in this match. Depending on who is in the starting XIs for both sides, Sharma might struggle to make it into a lot of GDS coaches' squads for this match.
Round 57 - Mumbai Indians vs Lucknow Super Giants
Top performing players at each position (minimum 7 matches)
BAT - Suryakumar Yadav averaging 47.7 points
WKT - KL Rahul averaging 59.6 points
AR - Marcus Stoinis averaging 49.7 points
BWL - Jasprit Bumrah averaging 44.7 points
With the likes of Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma struggling for form lately, the three players to start in the WK/BAT position become very difficult to select. One player that stands out for me is Tilak Varma. He may not have an explosive innings this season like some of the other candidates, but he has been rather consistent. Varma has made the squad of the round on eight occasions and averages 47.7 points for the season. He has had four scores under 20 runs, but he is one of the inform batsmen going into this match. If you have been burnt by selecting QDK or Sharma too many times this season, Varma is a very good option if you don't want to select an out of form player.
Round 58 - Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Chennai Super Kings
Top performing players at each position (minimum 7 matches)
BAT - Virat Kohli averaging 71.8 points
WKT - Dinesh Karthik averaging 31.5 points
AR - Will Jacks averaging 48 points
BWL - Mustafizur Rahman averaging 41.4 points
Neither Dhoni nor Karthik seems all that appealing as a starting option at wicket keeper for this match but we must select one of them. To be honest, it's really a coin flip on who to start out of these two players. I'm leaning the way of Karthik as he has done more with the bat when given the opportunity this season and is averaging 12 points more than Dhoni. However, Dhoni has performed better away from home this season and averages 28 points across these six matches. When chasing, his averaging improves 46 points. Karthik also performs better when RCB are chasing at home and averages 45 points in these matches. I'm going to wait till the toss goes ahead before making my decision on who to start. Whichever player is in the chasing team, I'll start them.
Round 59 - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Top performing players at each position (minimum 7 matches)
BAT - Travis Head averaging 64.7 points
WKT - Phil Salt averaging 57.5 points
AR - Sunil Narine averaging 90.3 points
BWL - Harshal Patel averaging 47.1 points
Even though Nitish Kumar Reddy is the 9th ranked all-rounder for the season with an average of 46.3 points, I'll be fading him in this match. This is nothing to do with his talent or the form that he has shown, it's just because we are likely to have Narine, Russell, Parag, and Curran all available to select from. These four all-rounders are the top four ranked all-rounders in GDS and all average 53+ points. With the finals just around the corner, I would be looking to acquire NKR if you don't already have his card as I believe we will see Sunrisers Hyderabad in the finals.