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 32-38
WKT - Jonny Bairstow (Punjab Kings) -158 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Ruturaj Gaikwad (Chennai Super Kings) -150 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals) -143 GDS Fantasy Points
WKT/BAT - Rishabh Pant (Delhi Capitals) -133 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Marcus Stoinis (Lucknow Super Giants) - 169 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) - 143 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Will Jacks (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) - 141 GDS Fantasy Points
AR - Axar Patel (Delhi Capitals) - 139 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Sandeep Sharma (Rajasthan Royals) -137 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Tushar Deshpander (Chennai Super Kings) - 94 GDS Fantasy Points
BWL - Rasikh Salam (Delhi Capitals) - 79 GDS Fantasy Points
Squad Total 1486 points
How many of these players did you start?
Performance of the week
This week this award goes to Marcus Stoinis. Stoinis has been frustrating many GDS coaches this season, but he put it all together with the bat against CSK and scored 124 runs off 63 balls. This performance rewarded those faithful coaches with 169 points. However, Stoinis still remains a risky selection as he has made the squad of the round in six of his nine matches and averages 46 points this season. Personally, I find it hard not to start Stoinis as he offers such a high ceiling. With the bat this season he is averaging 28 runs but has been used sparingly with the ball and has only bowled the nine overs. We have seen his usage improve in the last three matches with the ball and he has bowled seven overs across these matches. Hopefully we continue to see him used as a bowling option for LSG on a regular basis and if he is, I believe he will be making a lot of GDS coaches starting XIs whenever LSG play.
Riser
This week the riser award goes to Ruturaj Gaikwad. Gaikwad was off to a very slow start this season and averaged 28.7 points over his first four matches. In his last five matches he has managed to score one century and three fifties for an average of 93.2 points. This turnaround in form now has him ranked as 4th player overall and the 3rd ranked batsman with an average of 64.6 points. After being the 5th ranked batsman in 2023, Gaikwad is now showing coaches that he can be one of the best batsmen in GDS. This is Gaikwad's 5th season in the IPL and at the age of 27 years old, I believe he can be viewed by GDS coaches as a good dynasty asset. If you don't already have his card, I would look at acquiring one as soon as possible.
Faller
This week the faller award goes to Rashid Khan. Khan is still viewed by many as one of the great exponents of the T20 format and I still agree with this. However, in a fantasy sense we have seen a drop off in his performance compared to 2023. In 2023 he was the number one ranked all-rounder with an average of 56.6 points but this season he is ranked 17th with an average 40.9 points. Even though I have Khan as my faller this week, he is still the best all-rounder by some distance at GT and will likely be selected by many GDS coaches whenever they play. I just want to point out that he may not be one of the most sought-after all-rounders in GDS like he was at the beginning of the season. GDS coaches might be able to pick him up at a discount if they don't already have his card.
Upcoming matches for rounds 39-45
Round 39 - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Capitals
Top performing players at each position (minimum 5 matches)
BAT - Jake Fraser-McGurk averaging 69 points
WKT - Rishabh Pant averaging 61.1 points
AR - Sunil Narine averaging 98.5 points
BWL - Mukesh Kumar averaging 45.7 points
In his debut season in the IPL, JFM has been a real find for Ricky Ponting's Delhi Capitals. He has played five matches and scored three fifties and had two scores in the 20s for an average of 49.4 runs. JFM has a great strike rate of 237.5 and has been able to get DC off to some great starts at the top of the order. He turned 22 years old earlier this month and I believe he has a great future ahead in the IPL. Due to his age, I would be trying to acquire his card as soon as possible as it looks like he is one of the best young dynasty prospects in GDS. There are some very good players to select from at the BAT/WKT position for this match and JFM should strongly be considered as a starter.
Round 40 - Lucknow Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians
Top performing players at each position (minimum 5 matches)
BAT - Tilak Varma averaging 53.2 points
WKT - KL Rahul averaging 64.2 points
AR - Marcus Stoinis averaging 46.1 points
BWL - Jasprit Bumrah averaging 44.3 points
Ishan Kishan has had a rollercoaster of a season and has only made the squad of the round in three of his nine matches, averaging 36.6 points. Don't get me wrong, any player can perform on any given day but when you have the likes of KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Nicholas Pooran, Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock to select from at the WKT or BAT/WKT position in this match, I have Kishan ranked below all of these players. This has nothing to do with his talent, it's just that all the above players average more than Kishan and most of them have been more consistent.
Round 41 - Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings
Top performing players at each position (minimum 5 matches)
BAT - Ruturaj Gaikwad averaging 64.6 points
WKT - Jonny Bairstow averaging 44.9 points
AR - Sam Curran averaging 55.9 points
BWL - Matheesha Pathirana averaging 53.5 points
Ashutosh Sharma has certainly exceeded my expectations this season, but I'll more than likely not be starting him in this match. The main reason for this is that I believe his average of 38.3 doesn't really reflect his role in PBKS. His role is a finisher, and he hasn't batted any higher up the batting order than number eight. Sharma had scores of 31, 33, 31, 61, 3 and DNB. Over his first four matches he was averaging 52.8 points but over his last two, he is only averaging 9.5 points. There is absolutely no reason why Sharma can't score well but I believe he was extremely lucky to have four scores of 30+ runs from the number eight batting position. This sort of form just isn't sustainable when batting at eight and this showed in the last two matches. When you have the likes of Curran, Dude, Singh and Jadeja who will likely be playing in this match, it's very hard to select Sharma for your starting XI. Especially when he hasn't bowled a single delivery this season.
Round 42 - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals
Top performing players at each position (minimum 5 matches)
BAT - Travis Head averaging 56.5 points
WKT - Sanju Samson averaging 61.6 points
AR - Riyan Parag averaging 49.4 points
BWL - Thangarasu Natarajan averaging 48.7 points
Head's last couple of matches have been on the disappointing side for GDS coaches and he only scored 1 and 13 runs with the bat. Prior to this he had innings of 102 and 89 runs. Like many of the batsmen in GDS, there isn't much between having an outstanding innings or going out for a duck. As GDS coaches, we just have to take the good with the bad. Even with his last two innings, Head is still ranked as the 4th batsman in GDS. He is a very popular selection whenever the Sunrisers play, and I believe he should be selected in most of their matches. He offers a very high ceiling and as a GDS coach, there is nothing worse than not having him in your starting XI when he has brilliant innings.
Round 43 - Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Top performing players at each position (minimum 5 matches)
BAT - Tilak Varma averaging 53.2 points
WKT - Phil Salt averaging 60 points
AR - Sunil Narine averaging 98.5 points
BWL - Jasprit Bumrah averaging 44.3 points
Hardik Pandya hasn't set the IPL on fire this season, but he is still the best all-rounder at the Mumbai Indians. He's averaging 42.7 points over his nine matches and has made the squad of the round on seven occasions. Pandya is averaging 21.8 runs and bowling an average of just over two overs a match this season. With this sort of production, Pandya can quite easily be the top scoring all-rounder in a match, but it might not be this match when you have Narine and Russell that are also likely to play. Narine and Russell are the two premium options at the all-rounder position for this match and I have Pandya ranked a clear third.
Round 44 - Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans
Top performing players at each position (minimum 5 matches)
BAT - Virat Kohli averaging 68.6 points
WKT - Dinesh Karthik averaging 35.7 points
AR - Will Jacks averaging 58.2 points
BWL - Sai Kishore averaging 40 points
Azmatullah Omarzai started off well this season with 68 points in his first match but since then he has failed to score more than 28 points in his other six matches. He usually bats anywhere between 4-7 in the Titans batting line-up and has bowled 2+ overs in every match he's played. He hasn't managed to pick up a wicket since early April and when he has only had two innings over the same period, this doesn't quite cut it for GDS coaches. Omarzai is a great talent but his role for the Titans at the moment doesn't make him all that relevant as a player in GDS.
Round 45 - Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Top performing players at each position (minimum 5 matches)
BAT - Ruturaj Gaikwad averaging 64.6 points
WKT - KL Rahul averaging 64.2 points
AR - Sunil Narine averaging 98.5 points
BWL - Matheesha Pathirana averaging 53.5 points
Phil Salt isn't my top ranked wicket keeper for this round, but he will certainly be started at the WKT/BAT position. Salt has been having a great tournament with the bat and has an average of 40.5 runs, this includes three fifties and one duck. Salt has made the squad of the round in six of his eight matches. He is ranked 8th overall and 4th among wicket-keepers. Usually, we see either Salt or Narine get KKR off to a great start at the top of the order and I have a feeling we will see a century from Salt before the end of the tournament. With an average of 60 points, Salt should be seriously considered as starter every time KKR play.
