The 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) season heads into match 22 with Kings XI Punjab set to take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at Mohali on Monday.
As fans, watching the action is not the only thing to look forward to – IPL fantasy games mean you have the opportunity to get involved as well.
As the IPL’s official partner, Dream11 runs a daily contest for each game apart from the default format which is conducted per round.
Here, we focus on helping you navigate your way through the former.
BATSMAN
Chris Gayle – Kings XI Punjab (10.5 credits)
This is a tough one to call between Chris Gayle and David Warner but it is the former who gets the nod due to the fact that he will be batting on his home track.
The explosive West Indies opener looked in excellent touch at the start of the campaign before an injury saw him miss out on Punjab’s win over Delhi Capitals.
Gayle was dismissed for just five on his return from injury on Saturday and he will be desperate to get back into the swing of things at Mohali.
If the Jamaican can rediscover the form he showed in Punjab’s campaign opener against Rajasthan Royals where he smashed a quick-fire 79, then it could be raining sixes on Monday.
BOWLER
Rashid Khan – Sunrisers Hyderabad (9.5 credits)
Both teams have strong bowling units at their disposal but look no further than the No1 ranked bowler in the format.
Rashid Khan might have only picked up four wickets in five appearances so far this season but they have come at an excellent economy-rate of six runs an over.
No batsman has been able to truly get on top of the Afghan leg-spinner with several of them adopting a cautious approach against him. Should a situation arise where Punjab’s batsmen are forced to up the ante against Rashid, expect the wily wrist-spinner to pick up wickets in abundance.
David Warner and Rashid Khan. Image – BCCI/SPORTSZPICS.
ALL-ROUNDER
Mohammad Nabi – Sunrisers Hyderabad (8.5 credits)
The Afghanistan all-rounder only made two appearances over the course of the entire 2018 edition, but he has already featured thrice in the current campaign and with good reason.
Nabi has been nothing short of sensational with the ball in hand with his off-spin turning out to be a sure-shot wicket-taking option in the powerplay for Hyderabad.
The veteran has already picked up seven wickets in his three appearances this season including a four-wicket haul against Bangalore. What’s even better is that Nabi’s wickets have come at a mind-boggling economy-rate of just 3.75.
The Afghanistan man can be expected to keep up his wicket-taking exploits and any runs he scores with the bat will be a bonus.
4-0-11-4 🔥🔥🔥🔥
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 31, 2019
Running out Mo Ali 👌
How good has Mohammad Nabi's return to the XI been for the @sunrisershyd ? #SRHvRCB #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/EhQSRVlzv0
WICKETKEEPER
Jonny Bairstow – Sunrisers Hyderabad (9.5 credits)
Both teams have wicketkeeper-batsmen who are looking good currently but it would be foolish to look beyond Sunrisers’ Jonny Bairstow. The England batsman has been exceptional in what is his maiden IPL campaign with 262 runs from five innings at an average greater than 52 and a strike-rate of nearly 169.
The 29-year-old has even started to outdo the in-form Warner in recent matches while his 114-run knock against Bangalore is arguably the best innings of the tournament so far.
With Sunrisers’ excellent bowling unit, Bairstow has been kept busy behind the stumps as well and one can expect a fair few points in that aspect to go with his batting contributions.
CAPTAIN – Jonny Bairstow
VICE CAPTAIN – Mohammad Nabi
