Let us first understand how the players from these two teams are the top picks in Fantasy Cricket & how the fantasy cricket works.
What is the Fantasy Cricket?
Fantasy Cricket apps are relatively newer. The participants make up virtual teams based on the competing teams during match day. The points are then awarded based on the real-life performances of the players during the match and can win money with cricket. To win the tournament, a participant has to win and score maximum points in a fantasy cricket league and get to the leaderboard in the fantasy cricket app.
A typical fantasy cricket match is based on the overall cricket performances of a player. Right from the batting, bowling and including the fielding, all these constitute the pointing system. Fantasy cricket tests the analytical and strategic skills on an individual level.
How to play Fantasy Cricket?
One can play Fantasy Cricket and score easily by knowing its rules. Every participant gets 100 credit points initially which can be used to choose the players. In this game, you must choose a team of 11 players, which must include one wicket-keeper, three to five batsmen, one to three all-rounders and bowlers ranging from three to five players.
Furthermore, the points specifically awarded for boundaries, sixes, half-centuries and centuries. Points are also awarded for wickets, maiden overs, and multiple wickets haul. Points are also awarded for players who show brilliance in the field by carrying out run-outs, dismissing batsmen through catches. Fantasy Cricket is played in all formats such as World Cup matches, One Day International/50 Over Cricket, Test Cricket and Twenty20 level at both international and domestic levels.
History of Indian Premier League
Indian Premier League, more commonly known as IPL has been one of the most popular and highest rated T20 Premier Cricket Leagues in the world. The league that began in 2008 with a brand value of around 730 million USD has now evolved into a 6.9 billion USD according to Duff & Phelps. The first IPL began with teams were namely Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils which has been renamed to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals respectively.
Over the decade, IPL saw many new franchise teams such as Gujarat Lions, Kochi Tuskers and Pune Warriors India which was also renamed as Rising Pune Supergiants. Not to mention, IPL saw many famous players at their prime best of their careers. IPL has been the landmark to set many cricketing records and has been the destination where players have shown their mettle. The 2019 season saw the viewership record being broken as BARC data showed 462 million viewers for the 12th edition of IPL.
History of Auctions at IPL
Auction has been the crucial factor in deciding how the teams fare against each other. One of the costliest players to be sold at an IPL auction was the 2011 World Cup’s Player of the Tournament Yuvraj Singh. Other famous costly players include Sachin Tendulkar, Ben Stokes, Glenn Maxwell, Shane Watson, Gautam Gambhir, Sanju Samson and more recently Jaydev Unadkat. But above all these players were the inaugural edition’s 2008 auction which saw M. S. Dhoni being the costliest player of that season who was bought by CSK. Since then, Dhoni has captained and played every year whenever CSK was competing in the IPL. Another famous player who has always played for one franchise only is the current Indian captain Virat Kohli. The Delhi boy, Virat has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore since the very beginning of the IPL.
Rivalry Between CSK and RCB
The current captains of both franchises, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore have led the Indian National Cricket Teams. In addition to the captaincy, both MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are considered to be some of the best talents the country has produced. The captaincy records of both the captains are highly notable. Both of them are considered to be the most successful captains of Indian cricketing history and this is the reason what makes this rivalry even more enthralling. Here are some of the famous past encounters between these two teams:
2011
The 4th edition IPL finished with RCB and CSK at 1st and 2nd position in the points table respectively. The first Qualifier of the season put more pressure on CSK as they were also the defending champions for the season. The match unfolded and with RCB batting first, it was a Virat Kohli led innings of 70 runs and a cameo from Luke Pomersbach which took RCB to 175.
The 2nd innings saw the CSK openers get out early but Suresh Raina’s knock of 73 who was also awarded the Man of the Match and Albie Morkel’s 10 balls 23 which included 3 sixes ensured a berth in the Final for CSK. This was the beginning of the rivalry between the two teams.
2012
After losing the Qualifier 1 and the Finals to CSK, this was their first encounter in the 5th edition of IPL. The Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings match saw youngster Mayank Agarwal who is now a valuable player for the Indian National Cricket Team scored 51 runs and Virat Kohli and Gayle’s partnership of 105 runs propelled the team to a total of 105 runs.
The CSK’s attack was led by Faf du Plessis on a hot match day in Chennai along with the Captain Cool. But it was Albie Morkels 28 run knock in Virat’s penultimate over of the second innings to bring the IPL Kings closer to victory. In the final over, DJ Bravo took off with a six and Ravindra Jadeja’s quick 2 runs off the last ball ensured the victory for the home team.
2013
Match 16 of the 6th IPL edition saw one of the most memorable cricket chases in IPL history. With RCB batting first, the team put up a decent total of 165 runs. Virat and de Villiers together contributed a total of 122 runs and Chris Morris had bagged a 3 wicket haul as well.
The second innings was slow-paced as well. Four of the middle order batsmen scored in their 30s. For the last two deliveries, three runs were required and it was Morris and Jadeja batting. The duo snuck a single on the penultimate ball of the innings and the equation left was 2 off the last ball. Jadeja slashed the bouncer straight into the hands of Ravi Rampaul at third man and the RCB players had started celebrating the victory.
The RCB joy was short-lived as the umpires ruled it a no-ball and as the batsmen had already run for a quick single, with addition to the extra run off the no-ball, CSK won the match in a thrilling encounter.
2014
Match 43 of 2014 IPL season was held at the Ranchi stadium for the first time in IPL history. Many cricketing pundits and players thought that CSK will have the upper hand since Ranchi was MSD’s home ground. With both teams having powerful hitters, the match turned out to be the other way around. The slow pitch of Ranchi saw CSK putting up a score of 138 which was led by Suresh Raina’s 48 balls 62 runs knock.
The CSK side was still in good control of the match as they had restricted both Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli from crossing the strike rate of 100. But the real damage was done by Yuvraj Singh and AB de Villiers who took the match away from CSK by smashing three sixes and a four within 5 balls itself. In the final over, Yuvraj Singh put the first ball of the over into the stands to ensure victory for RCB. AB de Villiers was eventually awarded the Man of the Match for his performance.
2018
Also considered to be the South Derby of Indian Premier League, match 24 involved controversies off the field as well. With controversies involving Dhoni’s age and retirement concerns, this was an important match for Dhoni. The match saw a scintillating start from the RCB team led by Quinton de Kock who was later joined by his countryman AB de Villiers. Also, a little cameo from Mandeep Singh which took the Bangalore team to a huge total of 205.
The CSK side was held by gritty Ambati Rayudu and a commendable knock from ‘Thala’ MS Dhoni. The Skipper made 70 off just 34 balls with a strike rate of 205 and brought victory to the team. This match witnessed the highest successful chases by CSK in their IPL history.
Chennai Super Kings Squad for 2020
CSK has retained most of its players and a couple of new players. The squad for 2020 season is MS Dhoni (c), Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Sam Curran, Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood, Jagadeesan Narayan, Karn Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Monu Singh, M Vijay, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, R Sai Kishore
Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad for 2020
The Bangalore franchise has retained some of its players and has bought some big names at the auction. The RCB squad for 2020 comprises Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Gurkeerat Mann, Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kane Richardson, Dale Steyn, Isuru Udana, Moeen Ali, Pawan Negi, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Pavan Deshpande Parthiv Patel, Joshua Philippe, Shahbaz Ahamad
IPL and World Cup
With the World Cup approaching in the year 2020, players can portray their skills to make it to the Indian Team T20 Squads and their respective national teams as well. With controversies involving captaincy and MS Dhoni’s retirement, IPL will be the showcase to determine how the Indian National Cricket Team will fare in the T20 World Cup that will be held in Australia. This could very well be the Dhoni’s last World Cup as well.
The players involved in the South Indian derby are some of the most valuable players in the top fantasy leagues as well. With such high stakes, controversies and big names of cricket involving this fixture, this clash is one of the most awaited matches in the Indian Premier League.
