Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world, and as it gains footing in the United States fantasy cricket is becoming more widespread than ever. New sites and apps where fans build fantasy teams for real cash payouts are sprouting almost daily. If you are a sports fan looking to get in on the growing fantasy craze, here are three simple steps to understand fantasy cricket.
Step One: Know the Fantasy Cricket Formats
There are several types of fantasy cricket formats available to fans. And that is understandable considering its popularity and how many matches are played on any given day. But two popular formats stand out more than others. Those formats are built around a daily fantasy format and a tournament (or league) fantasy format.
The Daily Fantasy Cricket format is the most popular way fantasy cricket is played. Players pick their top 11 players from a match of their choosing and look to score as many points as possible. The best players from either team are mixed and matched in this format for a maximum scoring opportunity. Fantasy managers are given a budget, making selecting a Fantasy XI team a matter of strategy.
The Seasonal Tournament format of cricket is popular when a league season or international tournament begins. Managers build a team of 11 players from any squad and keep that team to the end, similar to a fantasy football redraft season. Official tournament apps usually handle these redraft-style leagues. The Hundred and the Caribbean Premier League offers seasonal fantasy cricket this way.
Step Two: Understand the Playing XI
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All fantasy cricket leagues give managers a salary cap. For Fantasy XI, that cap is usually $100. Be selective with choices, because usually selecting just two top players leaves managers stuck with filling a team with multiple bottom-order batters. Season-long tournament-style fantasy cricket usually hands managers $100 million to work with. Here is the list of positions every manager must fill before submitting a Playing XI squad.
- Captain and Vice-Captain: a team manager chooses any player regardless of team side or position as captain and vice-captain. A captain doubles their fantasy points and vice-captain increases their points by 1.5.
- Batters: the batters are usually the most expensive players to purchase. Fantasy managers usually select one opening batter as their highest pick because scoring runs is the easiest way to score fantasy points.
- Wicketkeeper: every fantasy cricket squad is required to have a minimum of one wicketkeeper in the lineup, but that’s a good thing. Wicketkeepers are great at scoring fantasy points during a catch or run-out. And they score additional points when batting.
- All-Rounders: these highly sought-after players are both batters and bowlers. Simply put, they are nearly guaranteed to increase point-scoring opportunities.
- Bowlers: a single bowler can change the entire trajectory of a game and that’s why some bowlers are the most expensive players to purchase. Considering the points accumulated from taking a wicket, building a fantasy squad around just one high-priced bowler can make all the difference.
Step Three: Know How Scoring Works
Although some leagues make specific rules, scoring points in fantasy cricket is usually the same. Check each app, site, or platform for a comprehensive list of that site’s scoring structure. Here is an example breakdown of how scoring commonly works.
Batting:
- Run: +1 pt.
- Boundary: +1 pt.
- Maximum: +2 pts.
- Half-century: +8 pts.
- Century: +16 pts.
- Dismissal for a duck: -2 pts.
Bowling:
- Wicket: +25 pts.
- Bowled/LBW bonus: +8 pts.
- 3/4/5 wicket bonus: +4/+8/+16 pts.
- Maiden over: +12 pts.
Fielding:
- Catch out: +8 pts.
- Run out: +6 pts.
- Direct hit: +12 pts.
- Stumping: +12 pts.
Additional Points:
- Captain points: 2x
- Vice-Captain points: 1.5x
Conclusion
Playing fantasy cricket is a good way to get familiar with the excitement and tactics of the game. Apps like Gully Cricket and The Cricket Draft are good starter sites for managers learning to build a Fantasy XI. Tournament-specific fantasy apps like the ICC World Cup app, The Hundred Fantasy app, and the Caribbean Premier League app are also great sites to utilize during league play.
