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 18 - 24
WKT - Phil Salt (Kolkata Knight Riders) -133 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians) -142 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Ishan Kishan (Mumbai Indians) -110 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals) -102 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Nitish Kumar Reddy (Sunrisers Hyderabad) -119 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals) - 97 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Sam Curran (Punjab Kings) - 91 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings) - 90 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians) -129 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Matheesha Pathirana (Chennai Super Kings) - 99 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Arshdeep Singh (Punjab Kings) - 98 GDS Fantasy Points
Squad Total 1210 points
How many of these players did you start?
Performance of the week
This week this award goes to Jasprit Bumrah. Against RCB he had figures 5/21 from his four overs and became the second player this season to take five wickets in a match. After failing to make the squad of the round in his previous three matches, he proved some GDS coaches wrong after they decided not to start him after his poor run of form. As many GDS coaches know, Bumrah is a fantastic starting option for their starting squad. Yes, he can have a few low scores here and there, but he is a player that offers a higher score than most at his position. After this performance against RCB, I don't think many coaches will be leaving him out of their starting squads moving forward.
Riser
This week the riser award goes to Sanju Samson. Against the Titans, Samson scored 68 runs not out off 38 balls as he helped the Royals to a total of 196. This was his third fifty of the season and the second time that he scored 100+ points. However, he did follow up this performance with a score of 21 points against PBKS and this was a season low for him. Even taking his performance against PBKS into consideration, I still believe that Samson is a must start as he has made the squad of the round on five occasions. He is also the top ranked wicketkeeper with an average of 55.8 points.
Faller
This week the faller award goes to Glenn Maxwell. Even though Maxwell has made the squad of the round in three of his six matches, he has been out of form. He has had six innings, with his highest score of 28 runs coming against KKR. In the other five innings he has failed to reach double digits and has three ducks. This is not what we have come to expect from watching Maxwell over the years. What he does have going for him is his bowling as he has taken four wickets in the nine overs he has bowled. In saying this, he has only bowled in four of his matches and only twice has he bowled more than one over. Maxwell is a player that can score 100+ points in GDS at any stage but he just hasn't looked at his destructive best with the bat. If any GDS coaches decide to bench Maxwell, I can't blame them. However, just remember that innings against Afghanistan in the CWC last year when he produced one of the best innings the world has ever seen.
Upcoming matches for rounds 25-31
Round 25 - Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Virat Kohli averaging 74 points
WKT - Heinrich Klaasen averaging 54.8 points
AR - Abhishek Sharma averaging 53 points
BWL - Thangarasu Natarajan averaging 41.3 points
The must start player in this match for me has to be Virat Kolhi. He has shown his class and provided GDS coaches with three performances of 100+ points. However, he was dismissed for only 3 runs against the Mumbai Indians in his last match. Even though he was ranked 7th in the batsmen rankings in the Mumbai match, coaches shouldn't lose faith and drop him from their starting squad based on this one performance. Kohli is the sort of player that most coaches will be starting in every match and it's probably not worth going against this trend. If you don't already have his card, I would check out the transfer market and look at acquiring one as he is the top-ranked batsman in GDS.
Round 26 - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Shreyas Iyer averaging 36.4 points
WKT - Sanju Samson averaging 63.7 points
AR - Sunil Narine averaging 74.8 points
BWL - Vaibhav Arora averaging 50 points
We finally saw a performance from Mitchell Starc in his last match that warranted his IPL auction price. He took 3/28 off his four overs and two of these wickets were taken in the final over of the innings. Prior to this performance, Starc hadn't made the squad of the round this season. I still believe Starc is one of the world's best bowlers in the T20 format even though his performances haven't shown this in GDS. When selecting your squad for matches that include KKR moving forward, Starc remains a risky option and I wouldn't argue with any coach that wants to start him or sit him. Personally, I'll be starting him as I think he's going to start taking more wickets.
Round 27 - Gujarat Titans vs Delhi Capitals
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Shubman Gill averaging 54 points
WKT - Rishabh Pant averaging 52.5 points
AR - Rashid Khan averaging 38.7 points
BWL - Kuldeep Yadav averaging 48 points
None of the all-rounders in this match have been all that impressive this season with Rashid Khan being the pick of them. After looking at the starting XIs for these teams over their last couple of matches, it looks like Khan, Nalkande, Patel, Tewaita and Shankar will all start. Looking at these options, I'm tossing up between Tewaita and Shankar as the fourth starting all-rounder. Neither option is all that glamorous, but I'll be fading Tewaita even though he is averaging more than Shankar this season. Both players have only made the squad of the round once this season and are usually both to be avoided in my opinion. The main reason I'm fading Tewaita is because Shankar bats higher up the order and he also had a better IPL in 2023. When applying the GDS scoring to the 2023 stats, Tewaita averaged 10.2 points and Shankar averaged 29.5 points. I'm aware that that was last season, but I believe it is only a matter of time before Shankar shows some form with the bat. The Titans have him coming in higher up the order for a reason. We might see Marsh return from injury and if he does, I'll be starting him above both Tewaita and Shankar.
Round 28 - Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Rohit Sharma averaging 60.2 points
WKT - Ishan Kishan averaging 45.7 points
AR - Sam Curran averaging 61.3 points
BWL - Jasprit Bumrah averaging 47.8 points
Jonny Bairstow has been a major disappointment for GDS coaches this season, averaging 26 points and only once has he made the squad of the round. There are more GDS relevant players that will likely be starting at the WKT and WKT/BAT position for this match and I'll be avoiding Bairstow. He has the talent to score big at any stage but after looking at his stats over the last couple of years, it seems that he has been struggling to find form for a while.
Round 29 - Lucknow Super Giants vs Chennai Super Kings
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Ruturaj Gaikwad averaging 48.5 points
WKT - Nicholas Pooran averaging 60 points
AR - Shivam Dube averaging 52.7 points
BWL - Matheesha Pathirana averaging 69.3 points
Quinton de Kock is one of the players that gives me the most selection headaches every time LSG plays. There is no doubting his ability and the ceiling he offers GDS coaches, but he has only made the squad of the round in two of his six matches. He's scored two good fifties so far but in three of his innings he has failed to score more than ten runs. A lot of coaches may have started him in most matches based on his name value, but his performances haven't always warranted his selection. If he was to be benched by some GDS coaches, this might be considered a risky move. However, when you have the likes of Nicholas Pooran and KL Rahul both likely to start in this match, QDK might be considered as the third best option at wicket-keeper. I won't say avoid starting QDK, I'll just say be aware that he hasn't shown the form that other wicket-keepers likely to play in this match have done this season.
Round 30 - Delhi Capitals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Prithvi Shaw averaging 51.3 points
WKT - Heinrich Klaasen averaging 54.8 points
AR - Abhishek Sharma averaging 53 points
BWL - Kuldeep Yadav averaging 48 points
It's all about the battle between Klaasen and Pant at the wicket-keeper position in this match. Both players are very explosive and have featured in the squad of the round on numerous occasions. As GDS coaches have the option of starting wicket-keepers in the WKT/BAT position, I believe it's a good idea to start them both as they both average over 50 points this season.
Round 31 - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Virat Kohli averaging 74 points
WKT - Phil Salt averaging 59 points
AR - Sunil Narine averaging 74.8 points
BWL - Vaibhav Arora averaging 50 points
With four teams to select from for this double header round, I believe Sam Curran is still a must start. He averages 61.3 points, ranked as the 4th all-rounder overall and has featured in the squad of the round in five of his six matches. Curran has been coming in at four in the PBKS batting order and has bowled three or more overs in four of his matches. In GDS, this is a recipe for success at the all-rounder position.
