Australia v India, 2nd Test – Fantasy Cricket Tips and Playing XI

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by Karthik Atchuta

Date: Dec 26-30, 2020 – 05:00am IST
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Fantasy Cricket Tips for Australia v India 2nd Test

AUS Test Squad: Matthew Wade, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Tim Paine (c/wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Moises Henriques, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Mitchell Swepson, Will Pucovski

IND Test Squad: Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Navdeep Saini, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav

Fantasy Cricket Tips – My Fantasy XI:

Batsmen: Steve Smith (c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Marnus Labuschagne

WK Batsman: Tim Paine, Rishabh Pant

All Rounders: Hanuma Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja

Bowlers: Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc (vc)

Captain and Vice Captain:

With Virat Kohli gone – I am handing over the captaincy duties to Steve Smith who has scored 908 runs in just 7 Tests at MCG at a batting average of over 110.

Mitchell Starc will continue to be my vice captain for his bowling and batting skills which could earn points at both fronts.

Batsmen:

I am going with Cheteshwar Pujara and 2 top Aussie batsmen – Smith and Labuschagne. This is primarily put so keeping in mind the team balance and budget investment over other players in Dream 11.

All rounders:

Hanuma Vihari and Ravindra Jadeja will constitute my all rounders quota. I highly rate Hanuma Vihari as a batsman and he is also my X-factor choice player yet again for this match. He could be the differentiating factor between your team and others. Ravindra Jadeja has been in great form in recent period and he could also be your vice captain choice if you trust him enough to deliver.

Travis Head is another strong choice along with Ravichandran Ashwin if you can adjust he quota budget.

Bowlers:

I am finally slotting in Josh Hazlewood alongside Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah who were also a part of our first test line up. With Mohammed Shami gone – I got in Rishabh Pant as addition wicket keeper alongside Tim Paine.

X-factors for me will be Gade Hanuma Vihari and Mitchell Starc – they can be the defining factor for the team’s critical differentials in the end.

Probable Playing XI:

Australia: Joe Burns, Matthew Wade, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Tim Paine (c/wk), Patrick Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

India: (confirmed) Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah