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 25-31
WKT - Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals) -144 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Travis Head (Sunrisers Hyderabad) -143 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - KL Rahul (Lucknow Super Giants) -136 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Dinesh Karthik (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) -110 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) - 208 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Andre Russell (Kolkata Knight Riders) - 104 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Nitish Kumar Reddy (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - 89 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Shahbaz Ahmed (Sunrisers Hyderabad) - 87 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Thangarasu Natarajan (Sunrisers Hyderabad) -124 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Sai Kishore (Gujarat Titans) - 98 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Kuldeep Yadav (Delhi Capitals) - 92 GDS Fantasy Points
Squad Total 1335 points
How many of these players did you start?
Performance of the week
This week this award goes to Sunil Narine. He scored a whopping 208 points against the Rajasthan Royals, and this was the biggest score in GDS this season. He scored 109 runs off 56 balls, this included thirteen 4s and six 6s. With the ball he took 2/30 off his four overs and he sneered a catch in the field. This was a fantastic all-rounder performance and I'll be surprised if anyone will score more than 208 points in a match this season. Even before this match, Narine was one of the better all-rounders in GDS as he opens the batting and has bowled his full complement of four overs in every match. He has featured in the squad of the round in five of his six matches and if you don't already have his card, I would look at acquiring one as soon as possible.
Riser
This week the riser award goes to Nitish Kumar Reddy. The Sunrisers are on a four-game winning streak and NKR has made handy contributions in these matches. He is currently ranked 4th in the all-rounder rankings with an average of 58.3 points. NKR generally comes into bat somewhere between 4-6 in the Sunrisers batting order and across his three innings he averages 38 runs. He has only bowled the five overs this season but has picked up three wickets. Ideally for GDS coaches, we start seeing NKR used more with the ball moving forward. With matches against RCB and CSK coming up this week, I don't see any reason why he can't be started in both matches.
Faller
After a brilliant last 12 months on the world stage, Rachin Ravindra is currently in a bit of a form slump. In his first two matches of the 2024 IPL campaign, Ravindra came away with scores of 66 points vs RCB and 90 points vs GT in GDS. Since then, he has failed to make the squad round and averages 17.2 points over his last five matches. He is such a quality cricketer and now might be a great time to buy low on him. At only 24 years old, I think he as a bright future ahead in the IPL. Especially if he continues to open the batting at CSK. Due to the depth in CSK's bowling attack, Ravindra has only bowled two overs and hasn't picked up a wicket. If you don't already have his card, I think this is a great time to go out and acquire one. He may be a risky starting option for the remainder of the season but I believe he holds a lot of dynasty value.
Upcoming matches for rounds 32-38
Round 32 - Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Rohit Sharma averaging 58.4 points
WKT - Jos Buttler averaging 60.5 points
AR - Riyan Parag averaging 60.1 points
BWL - Jasprit Bumrah averaging 51.7 points
After a good start to 2024 IPL, Trent Boult has failed to make the GDS squad of the round in his last four matches. When you have the likes of Bumrah, Coetzee and Sen that are all averaging 40+ points, it's hard to find room for Boult in the starting squad for this match. Until Boult starts taking a few more wickets, I believe he's a risky selection for your starting squad. He absolutely has the talent to be relevant in GDS, hopefully we start seeing him take more wickets soon.
Round 33 - Chennai Super Kings vs Lucknow Super Giants
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Ruturaj Gaikwad averaging 44.1 points
WKT - KL Rahul averaging 63.9 points
AR - Ravindra Jadeja averaging 47.3 points
BWL - Matheesha Pathirana averaging 58.5 points
KL Rahul finally converted one of his promising starts and finished with a season best 82 runs against LSG. He has made good starts in all seven of his innings and averages 40.8 runs with the bat. Rahul comes up against LSG in his next match and there isn't any reason why he can't once again produce with the bat for GDS coaches. I'm not going to say that he's guaranteed to score another fifty, I just think that he should be strongly considered as a starter for GDS coaches in this match. With Pooran, de Kock, Gaikwad and Rahane being the other decent starting WKT/BAT options in this match, I have Rahul ranked in the top three. There is a 20% chance that Rahul will not make the squad of the round for this match but going by his recent form, I don't think he can be benched.
Round 34 - Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Titans
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Jake Fraser-McGurk averaging 64.3 points
WKT - Rishabh Pant averaging 54.4 points
AR - Rashid Khan averaging 40.8 points
BWL - Sai Kishore averaging 50.3 points
David Warner might be one of the more recognised players that will play in this match, but I'll be fading him here. After averaging 62.3 points over his first three matches and making the squad of the round in all these matches, his performances since then have been rather disappointing for GDS coaches. Over his last four matches he is averaging 17.2 points and failed to score more than 18 runs in any of these innings. When coaches are likely to have Gill, Pant, Fraser-McGurk, Sudharsan and Shaw available as starting options at the WKT/BAT position for this match, Warner doesn't really even get a look in. However, we all know that Warner is a very clean hitter of the ball and can pull off a big innings in any match. I just think he's a risky starting option due to the form that he's been in recently and the other players available for selection in this match have been performing better.
Round 35 - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Travis Head averaging 72.5 points
WKT - Heinrich Klaasen averaging 60.4 points
AR - Nitish Kumar Reddy averaging 58.3 points
BWL - Thangarasu Natarajan averaging 54 points
Natarajan had his best performance of the season and scored 124 points vs Delhi Capitals after having figures of 4/19 off his four overs. In the five matches that he has played, Natarajan has made the squad of the round on two occasions. This might not seem all that impressive, but he did average 25.3 points across the other three matches and managed to pick up a wicket in all of them. Personally, I find selecting bowlers the hardest part when selecting my starting squad every round as any bowler can feature in any given match. What I like about Natarajan is that he has picked up a minimum of one wicket in every match. Up against an out of form RCB batting line-up, I believe he will take at least one wicket. He may not be one the more glamorous starting options but due to his consistency and the ceiling he offers, he will likely be one of my starting bowlers.
Round 36 - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Shikhar Dhawan averaging 42.8 points
WKT - Phil Salt averaging 54.1 points
AR - Sunil Narine averaging 92.1 points
BWL - Harshal Patel averaging 43.5 points
Liam Livingstone can be one of the most destructive all-rounders with the bat in the IPL, but we just haven't seen this side of him this season. He has made the squad of the round in 50% of his matches, with his highest score being 61 points. When you have Narine, Russell, Curran, and Sharma all likely to play in this match, personally I can't find room for Livingstone in my starting squad. He's still a quality starting option and if you are after that player of difference (POD), Livingstone might just be you man.
Round 37 - Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants vs Rajasthan Royals
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Jake Fraser-McGurk averaging 64.3 points
WKT - Rishabh Pant averaging 54.5 points
AR - Hardik Pandya averaging 43.7 points
BWL - Jasprit Bumrah averaging 51.7 points
With Mitchell Marsh back in Australia undergoing treatment on his hamstring, there aren't too many all-rounders to select from in this match. Romario Shepherd is a player that may not have been in many GDS coaches starting squads on a regular basis, but I believe he is a player that needs to be targeted on the transfer market ahead of this match. If DC and MI select similar starting XIs to what they have done recently, I have Shepherd ranked as my 4th all-rounder. The main reason for this is down to him usually batting higher up the order than Nabi and Gopel. Also, Nabi has an average of 20.5 points and 17.5 points of this has been scored through his fielding. That means Nabi is only averaging 3 points through the bat and ball. As a GDS coach, this just doesn't cut it in my opinion, and I believe Shepherd is a better starting option in this match.
Round 38 - Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Top performing players at each position (minimum 3 matches)
BAT - Travis Head averaging 72.5 points
WKT - Heinrich Klaasen averaging 60.4 points
AR - Nitish Kumar Reddy averaging 58.3 points
BWL - Matheesha Pathirana averaging 58.5 points
In this round we will have some of the best options at the WKT/BAT position to select from. With all the talent available to select from, Travis Head is still one of the first selected. He is coming off back-to-back 120+ point performances and has featured in the squad of the round in all but one of his matches. The destructive Aussie opener has put the bowlers of RCB and DC to the sword and will likely be up against a better bowling attack in this match. I'm not going to argue with anyone that wants to leave him out of their starting squad for this round but with the form that he's in, he's my first selected batsmen.
