India and South Africa resume their battle, this time at Pune, in what is expected to be another dust bowl. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka are pushing new frontiers in Pakistan with a second string side that could well be their new mainstream team given the kind of performances they have put up. For Nostragamus fantasy managers this is a tricky week but we have made it easier by shortlisting five must-picks in your Fantasy team this week.
Danushka Gunathilaka
Country: Sri Lanka
Match/Series: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
He hit a century in the ODIs and played another blinder in the first T20I to help Lanka win against a Pakistan side that has lost only eight T20Is in the last three years. The flamboyant left-hander is in form and making up for lost time so you might as well loot on his form by picking him in your fantasy team.
Ravichandran Ashwin
Country: India
Match/Series: India vs South Africa Tests
In his last eight innings against South Africa at home in Tests, Ashwin has seven hauls of four wickets or more including two seven-wicket hauls. A 7/66 at Nagpur in 2015 was foiled by ICC stamping down the pitch as a poor one bit at Vizag, on a surface the opposition captain called "ideal", Ashwin grabbed another crucial seven wicket haul to grab headlines. If he isn't your no.1 spinner in the fantasy team for home Tests, you might have a hard time staying ahead of the race.
Dean Elgar
Country: South Africa
Match/Series: India vs South Africa Tests
Few talked about Dean Elgar in the build up to the series but the left-hander has silenced his critics with a superb hundred at Vizag where he stood out for the manner in which he treated India's spinners. After a second innings failure, Elgar would be itching to prove that his 160 was no fluke. After all he has another hundred in Asia - in Sri Lanka in 2014 - and is among the best openers in Tests in World cricket today.
Senuran Muthusamy
Country: South Africa
Match/Series: India vs South Africa Tests
Every fantasy team needs a differential to jump ahead of the queue and for this week, our pick is Senuran Muthusamy. The Indian-origin South African all-rounder was initially picked for his bowling skills but after he grabbed the solitary wicket of a certain Virat Kohli, it was with the bat that he shone, remaining unbeaten across two innings while making 82 runs in 214 balls. Du Plessis talked about a batting promotion for the Dolphins all-rounder and we might well be seeing the making of another Steven Smith perhaps? You never know.
Babar Azam
Country: Pakistan
Match/Series: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
After his exceptional ODI series where he won the Man of the Series, Babar Azam has been asked to open the innings in T20Is, a task he handled with aplomb in the T20 Blast this year for Somerset. In his new role, Azam will have time to settle down and attack and at Somerset he showed that he can be as destructive an opener as any in the world. Can this new role spur Azam's rise in the shortest format too?
Featured image courtesy: AFP/ Noah Saleem
