Fantasy Cricket, the trending fantasy sports right now. Know more about this trending fantasy world.
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO FANTASY CRICKET:
Fantasy Cricket can be considered as a sports game. In order to play this sports game, you can create your dream team of 11 players from the combination of players of both teams for an upcoming match. Each user gets a specific amount of credits to create their dream team. Users can then choose players to be Captain and Vice-Captain respectively from his/her team.
Once the match begins, users will be given points for their fantasy team players on the basis of their performance in the match. Points are predefined for scoring runs, taking wickets, bowling maiden over, catches, etc. There are even negative points for dropping catches, bad economy, low strike rate, etc.
At the end of the match, winners are determined on the basis of total points scored by each fantasy team that has joined the pool. Currently, fantasy sports is becoming a trend in India. And very soon, it will grow to the level of that in other countries. Cricket, being one of the most popular sports in India, there are numerous leagues available in the Fantasy Cricket game.
HISTORY OF THE TOURNAMENT:
In the beginning of the IPL (2008), Mumbai Indians was led by the God Of Cricket – Sachin Tendulkar. MI fans will always remember Sachin Saga. Though the team had legends like Sachin, Jayasuriya, Pollock, it had very tough times in the earlier seasons of the tournament. Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy of MI in the middle of IPL 2013. And now, it is the most successful franchise in the league after lifting IPL trophies for four times – 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019.
Chennai Super Kings is also one of the most successful teams. Since the beginning of the IPL, CSK performed very well and qualified for the final against Rajasthan Royals in the very first season. Despite being suspended in the league for two years, CSK has managed to lift three IPL trophies – 2010, 2011, 2018. Also, it is the only team to qualify for each IPL playoffs. MS Dhoni has always remained the captain of CSK.
Both of them have played each other 30 times (including CLT20), which also makes them the most-watched IPL rivalry. Commonly, this rivalry is also referred to as the ‘El Classico’ in cricket. Since the beginning of the IPL in 2008, both the teams have been consistent in their performance. Considering their rivalry, they also had intense battles in the Champions League T20 (CLT20).
MI VS CSK – IMPORTANT EVENTS THAT HAVE SHAPED IPL:
The two most favorite teams in the history of IPL T20 are also the most successful teams in the league. At the end of Season 12, CSK managed to be the only team to qualify for the playoffs in each season of IPL they played. Along with that, Mumbai Indians came out to be the IPL champion for the fourth time. This is the highest number of ‘Champions’ title achieved by any team in the history of IPL. The toughest rivalry also makes the Fantasy Cricket challenging.
FIRST EVER INTENSE BATTLE:
The MI vs CSK rivalry is passionate as well as intense. If we look back in the history of IPL, the fierce battle began with the 2010 final, which turned out to be an intense rivalry. It was MI vs CSK final in which Mumbai Indians was the table topper, whereas the other one made it with 14 points on the board.
The final didn’t turn out to be a nail-biting finish. However, Suresh Raina had an unbeaten 35-ball 57, which took the team to a defendable 168 score. Mumbai Indians hurtled to their defeat by 22 runs. But, there began the greatest rivalry between both the teams which seems to be the most beautiful rivalry even today.
ANOTHER CLOSE FINISH:
Another great battle between them way backs to the 2013 IPL match held at MA Chidambaram Stadium. During that season, MI had Ricky Ponting as well as Sachin Tendulkar by their side. MI had a very bad start for that match as it lost 6 wickets for just 83 runs by their side. Thereafter, Pollard and Harbhajan Singh managed to have a great comeback for the team. With Pollard’s unbeaten 38-ball 57, MI scored a defendable 148 on the board.
In the chase, CSK seemed to fail as it lost 5 wickets for just 66 runs. Thereafter, MS Dhoni heads the team up as his partners lost their wickets. He took the scoreboard with 40 remaining off 18. Pollard’s next over turned out to be a victorious one for CSK as Dhoni smashed 17 off that over. When it came to 12 off 6, Munaf Patel was handed the final over. Dhoni hit a flick on a length ball, which seemed to be another delivery in the stands. But, Pollard’s unbelievable flight in the air took MI to the victory with an amazing catch and left silence in the home ground.
TOP CONTRIBUTORS OF MI AND CSK:
MI BATTING FIGURES:
1. ROHIT SHARMA:
Rohit Sharma (2011-2019) tops in scoring most runs for MI in the tournament. He has scored 4001 runs with an average of 32.00 by playing 148 innings.
2. KIERON POLLARD:
Kieron Pollard (2010-2019) comes second in the list. He has scored 3258 runs with an average of 28.83 by playing 157 innings.
3. AMBATI RAYUDU:
Ambati Rayudu (2010-2017) follows Pollard in the list. He has scored 2635 runs with an average of 24.39 by playing 127 innings.
MI BOWLING FIGURES:
1. LASITH MALINGA:
Lasith Malinga (2009-2019) tops the list in taking most wickets for the MI side in the tournament. He has taken 195 wickets by giving 3776 runs in 530 overs.
2. HARBHAJAN SINGH:
Harbhajan Singh (2008-2017) comes second in the bowling figures of MI. He has taken 147 wickets by giving 3903 runs in 560 overs.
3. JASPRIT BUMRAH:
Jasprit Bumrah (2013-2019) comes third in the list. He has taken 85 wickets for the MI side by giving 2266 runs in 299.2 overs.
CSK BATTING FIGURES:
1. SURESH RAINA:
Suresh Raina (2008-2019) tops in scoring most runs for CSK in the tournament. He has scored 5369 runs with an average of 33.98 by playing 184 innings. He has also achieved the title of ‘Mr. IPL’ by scoring most runs as an individual in the tournament.
2. MS DHONI:
MS Dhoni (2008-2019), the leader of CSK, comes second in the list. He has scored 4307 runs with an average of 42.22 by playing 166 innings.
3. MIKE HUSSEY:
Mike Hussey (2008-2015) comes third. He has scored 2213 runs with an average of 40.98 by playing 63 innings for the CSK side.
CSK BOWLING FIGURES:
1. RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN:
Ravichandran Ashwin (2009-2015) tops the list in taking most wickets for the CSK side in the tournament. He has taken 120 wickets by giving 2845 runs in 427 overs.
2. DJ BRAVO:
DJ Bravo (2011-2019) comes second in the bowling figures of CSK. He has taken 118 wickets by giving 2748 runs in 330.2 overs.
3. ALBIE MORKEL:
Albie Morkel (2008-2013) comes third in the list of CSK bowling figures. He has taken 91 wickets for the CSK side by giving 2361 runs in 295.4 overs.
CURRENT HAPPENINGS AND UPDATES ABOUT CSK AND MI:
For IPL 2020, Chennai Super Kings released Chaitanya Bishnoi, Mohit Sharma, Sam Billings, Dhruv Shorey, and David Willey. It retained the rest of its players. The defending champions Mumbai Indians just retained its main team. It released 12 players, which includes Adam Milne, Ben Cutting, Beuran Hendricks, and Yuvraj Singh (retired June 2019). For the 2020 Auctions held this month, both the teams will again clash to form the Best vs Best team.
THE MOST RECENT MATCH BETWEEN THE RIVALRY (2019 IPL FINAL) AND IMPORTANT MATCHES IN THE FUTURE:
The 2019 IPL final between CSK and MI will always remain one of the most nail-biting finishes in the history of IPL tournament. It is not just the most recent match between the duo, but also the most intense battle between them. Mumbai Indians won this thrilling clash by just one run and entitled itself with the 4th ‘IPL Champions’ title. CSK needed nine off six balls to win with its hero Shane Watson on the crease. Fortunes went wrong against CSK as Watson (80 off 59) got run out in 19.4 overs. Here comes Lasith Malinga to rescue his team when CSK needed 4 off 2 balls.
Finally, the last ball remaining and CSK needed 2 off the final ball. A slower ball, yorker, on the middle, and the last ball turned out to be the victory for MI with the wicket of Shardul Thakur (lbw). On the occasion of the final, Kieron Pollard had his birthday. He scored a beautiful knock of 25-balls 41, which helped his team reach a defendable score of 149.
Get yourself ready for the intense battle on the field as the IPL Season 13 arrives. In the thirteenth edition of the tournament, we will again see the CSK vs MI rivalry as both of them will play hard for their victory.
CURRENT SQUAD LIST:
MUMBAI INDIANS (MI):
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy, Quinton de Kock, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kieron Pollard, Digvijay Deshmukh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult, Chris Lynn, Sherfane Rutherford, Prince Balwant Rai Singh, Anmolpreet Singh
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS (CSK):
MS Dhoni (Captain), Dwayne Bravo, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Shane Watson, Piyush Chawla, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner, Sam Curran, Faf du Plessis, Monu Kumar, Sai Kishore, Narayan Jagadeesan, KM Asif, M Vijay, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Josh Hazlewood
FOUR POINTS THAT MAKE CSK V MI THE GREATEST RIVALRY
1. TEAM RECORDS:
Mumbai Indians leads the head-to-head rivalry having 18 wins with CSK having 12 wins. Mumbai Indians also leads the rivalry by having 4 ‘IPL Champions’ title. But, CSK also dominates the league by lifting 3 IPL trophies in just 10 Seasons which it played. Whereas, Mumbai Indians played for 12 Seasons. Both the teams have won CLT20 twice. Apart from facts, both the teams have always had fierce battles between them on the field.
2. TEAM PLAYERS:
In CSK vs MI rivalry, Suresh Raina tops to be the highest run-scorer with 730 runs. He has also been the player who appeared the most (played maximum) head-to-head matches in this rivalry. Lasith Malinga tops the bowling figures with 37 wickets. Keeping the figures aside, there are many beloved players from the Indian National Cricket Team in both the teams. This makes the rivalry even more intense.
3. THE GREATEST WINS:
On 5 May 2013, MI had a huge 60 runs win against CSK at Wankhede stadium, which is the largest win between the rivalry. Considering the win by wickets, on 14 May 2008, MI had a 9 wickets win against CSK at the same stadium. Till now, the best win streak between the rivalry is lead by MI with a winning streak of 5. Considering the amount of thrill, 2019 IPL final will always remain the greatest victory.
4. FAN FOLLOWING:
MI leads the fan following in the rivalry with 13.2 M Facebook, 4.99 M Twitter, and 2.4 M followers on Instagram. Whereas, CSK has 12 M Facebook, 4.61 M Twitter, and 2 M followers on Instagram. Apart from social media, fans of both the teams support their respective teams, irrespective of their territory. It means, CSK fans do exist in Mumbai and vice versa.
Considering each of these points, we come to know how nail-biting rivalry exists between MI and CSK. Both teams have a special place in the hearts of their fans. MI has a huge fanbase as the team was led by the ‘God Of Cricket’ – Sachin Tendulkar, earlier. Whereas, CSK has the ‘Favorite Captain’ of the Indian National Cricket Team – Mahendra Singh Dhoni. IPL league has always been the Best vs Best, and CSK vs MI rivalry proves that.
