With conditions in UAE rather alien, it can certainly be difficult to make the call on who to take in your team. Well, look no further, as we help you with five picks that are guaranteed to do well this season.
Player: Sunil Narine
Team: Kolkata
The West Indies all-rounder is a cheat code. Since he’s opened the batting for the Kolkata Knight Riders, Narine has scored over 500 runs in the last two seasons and picked up 27 wickets in just 28 matches. If he doesn’t get the opposition with the bat, he gets them with the ball. In the CPL, Narine played just five matches and scored 144 runs and picked up six wickets, further showcasing his ability to affect the game with both bat and ball. A no-brainer pick and a favourite to be your team’s captain.
Player: Glenn Maxwell
Team: Punjab
Punjab, the United Arab Emirates and Glenn Maxwell? It’s a throwback to 2014 when the Australian all-rounder smashed 300 runs in just five matches and eventually went on to pick the MVP award. The 31-year-old is coming into the tournament on the back of a good series against England, where he scored 187 runs in three matches, which includes a match and series-winning ton in the final ODI. Maxwell has already showcased that his game is well-suited to the conditions in the UAE and with the entire season scheduled to be conducted in the gulf country, the Australian could prove to be an excellent pick for your fantasy squad.
Player: Imran Tahir
Team: Chennai
The South African spinner continues to age like a fine wine. Tahir picked up, a mind-boggling 26 wickets last season at a good economy rate of 7.88. In his most recent endeavour in the Caribbean Premier League, Tahir finished with 15 wickets in 11 matches at a ridiculous economy rate of 5.82.
With pitches in the UAE excepted to be conducive to spin, expect Tahir to have another big season in yellow for the Chennai.
Player: Yuzvendra Chahal
Team: Bangalore
Speaking of spinners, few in the game are as good as Yuzvendra Chahal in T20s. His knack of challenging the batsman to go after him by relentlessly throwing looped deliveries has yielded 30 wickets in the last two Indian T20 League campaigns. Despite playing half of his matches the Chinnaswamy Stadium, which is rather infamous for its short boundaries and high-scoring matches, Chahal has managed to keep his economy under eight in the past three seasons, showcasing that he’s not only capable of picking wickets but is also street-smart and can curb the scoring rate.
A great pick for your fantasy team.
Player: KL Rahul
Team: Punjab
It’s hard to argue a case against KL Rahul being the best Indian batsman in the Indian T20 League since 2018 because there simply isn’t one. The newly-appointed Punjab skipper has scored 1,252 runs at an incredible strike rate of 146.60 and a scarcely believable average of 56.90. Since leaving Bangalore and batting at his preferred position at the top of the order, Rahul has blossomed into one of the nation’s finest batsmen in limited-overs cricket and the responsibility of captaincy will only help him grow as a player and lead by example on the field.
If there is one batsman that is must-have, it’s KL Rahul.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Punit Paranjpe
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