Cutting-edge Strategy to Win Fantasy Cricket Leagues on Howzat

Now that the Indian T20 League is over, the focus shifts back to the Indian team and a string of matches across formats culminating in the T20 World Cup in Australia in October-November. With each new series or tournament, more and more players are trying their hand at fantasy cricket. 

Howzat, the best fantasy cricket app, offers a whole host of new innovations such as contests based only on second innings or those based on a specific set of overs. But whichever contest you enter, your chances of winning increase greatly depending on how smart are the strategies that you adopt. Here we take a look at a few tips that will help you top the leaderboard. 

1. Know your team

The first step to picking a successful fantasy cricket XI is to familiarize yourself with the tournament taking place and the players who are part of it. Find out as much as you can about the teams playing and their previous record. Some players can thrive even in a losing environment, but most struggle. So make sure you select as many players as possible from teams that are doing well. Apps like Howzat will provide you with a wealth of information on teams’ past records like head-to-head numbers. 

2. Take conditions into account

Where is the match being played? What are the weather conditions like? No other major sport is as influenced by the weather as cricket is. If it’s oppressively hot, the pitches are likely to be bone dry and devoid of grass. That usually means a surface loaded in favor of the batters, where spin bowlers come into the picture as soon as the top soil loosens. If it’s a well-grassed pitch, seam bowlers usually hold sway, and batting can be quite tough. Cloudy conditions usually mean lots of swing, again making batting against pace bowlers a tricky task. Howzat informs you about pitch and weather conditions in the match predictions. Pay attention to them before you finalize your choices. 

3. Get your balance right

The best coaches always like to say that the greatest batters are those who are most well-balanced while playing their strokes. Choosing a winning team comes down to the same thing – balance. Whichever fantasy cricket league you’re taking part in, you need to make sure your fantasy XI has the right mix of specialists and all-rounders. 

As a rule, on batting-friendly pitches, specialist batters will hold sway. In such conditions, you’re far less likely to pack your side with all-rounders. It’s a different story when conditions are loaded in favor of the bowlers. In such a scenario, all-rounders can lengthen the batting order, in addition to providing more wicket-taking options. 

The balance also depends on the format being played. Test cricket XIs are usually packed with specialists. In ODIs, there is scope for more all-rounders to be part of the side. And in T20s, it’s not unheard of for teams to have 3 or 4 all-rounders in the XI. 

4. Remember fantasy cricket is different from real cricket

So much of what you see in fantasy cricket is based on the action that happens on the field. The players who play are the same, and the points they score are based on the scorecard. But the similarities end there. Remember in fantasy cricket, you have the luxury of selecting players from both sides. If one team has a weaker bowling attack, it stands to reason that your XI will mostly contain bowlers from the other team. 

There are also fewer restrictions when it comes to selecting a certain type of player. For example, a real-life cricket team will usually have 1 wicketkeeper, 5 or 6 specialist batters and 5 or 6 bowlers. Depending on the format and the conditions, all-rounders may take the place of specialist batters and bowlers. 

However, in fantasy cricket games, you can pick as many as 4 wicketkeepers if you want to. You can also pack your side with as many as 6 all-rounders if you choose to. There are situations where players may enter a contest with just one specialist batter or bowler in their XI. 

5. Choose your captain and vice captain smartly

Selecting a captain for an actual cricket team can be a long and time-consuming process. Selectors usually have a long-term vision when it comes to leadership, and they choose someone based on their career record, leadership qualities and ability to handle the many external distractions that are part and parcel of the cricket ecosystem. 

But when you’re selecting a captain for your fantasy team, it’s just for one game. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that your captain will score 2x points for the same performance as other players, and your vice captain will score 1.5x points. Their seniority or past record has no bearing on your selection. You just need to make sure you pick two players who are likely to score the most points. For that, current form is the biggest factor to consider. You can end up picking a 15-year veteran or a newcomer. All that matters is that they’re in form and likely to score you points. 

Howzat allows you to play unlimited practice games and enter with multiple entries in each contest until you feel confident enough to enter the big cash contests. Rarely a day goes by without a big contest on Howzat, so the fun never ends. What are you waiting for? Download the app, register and start playing for exciting prizes now!