What is Fantasy Cricket?
Over the years, the craze for sports among the people has been increasing rapidly. For the interest of the people and to enjoy the game in a much better way, there is a platform called Fantasy Sports. One of the genres offered is fantasy cricket. Fantasy Cricket is an online platform where any user can play virtually by making a team of real players. Users can make a team of 11 players including captain and vice-captain from a pool of 25 players. The user gets the points based on the performance of their fantasy cricket players when the cricket match starts in real-time.
The crucial part of fantasy cricket is how smartly you can choose the team. You have to pick up a squad of 11 players from both the teams. Mostly all-rounders and wicket keepers are on everyone’s priority list as they can earn the most points. Users keep in mind the performance of players before selecting the team because they cannot change after the match has started. Users can also earn money through fantasy cricket.
Emerging Calypso Kings in the IPL
Chris Gayle
Chris Gayle is a West Indian left-handed batsman. He made his first-class debut at the age of 19 for Jamaica in 1998. He played his first ODI match for West Indies on Sep 11, 1999, against India. He made his Test and T20 debut on Mar 16, 2000, and Feb 16, 2006, respectively. He captained the Test side from 2007 to 2010. Gayle has set numerous records across all three formats of the game and is considered to be one of the greatest West Indies Cricketers of all time.
Chris Gayle is renowned as one of the barbarous hitters in the cricketing world. He is always known for his fearless play and is considered the most destructive batsman in the world. He has made a remarkable impact in IPL. He made his IPL debut in the 2009 season for Kolkata Knight Riders and since then, has played for two more franchises, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab. When he started playing in the IPL, his performance was not up to the mark. But in 2011 season he made his comeback with a boom. He announced his arrival with a century and finished 2011 with 608 runs and an orange cap. He also won the orange cap in the very next season with 733 runs. He won many matches for his franchise single-handedly. In 2013, he registered the highest ever T20 score of 175 (off 66 balls) which also includes his famous 31- ball century which is also the fastest century ever against Pune Warriors which also got him the nickname “Universal Boss”.
Chris Gayle has set several records in the IPL thanks to his devastating batting skills. He has the most IPL centuries (6), is the fastest batsman to score 4000 runs and is the first batsman to hit 300 sixes. In his IPL career, he has scored around 5000 runs with an average of 32.54 and a strike rate of 151.02. He has scored 6 centuries and 28 fifties with the highest score of 175 in the 2013 season, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest foreign players in IPL history.
Andre Russell
Andre Russell is a West Indian all-rounder who played his first First-class match in 2010. He made his ODI debut in the 2011 Cricket World Cup against Ireland. He played his first T20 and Test match on Apr 21, 2011, and Nov 15, 2010, respectively. He has played in over 300 T20 matches for many different teams. In a short span of his career, he has become one of the most promising all-rounders in the world. He was named in the Team of the Tournament for the 2016 T20 world cup.
Andre Russell has been regarded as one of the best T20 players of all time. In a short period, he has emerged as one of the most valuable players in IPL. He is renowned as the most valuable and favourite power hitter in IPL. Russell started his IPL career playing for Delhi Capitals in 2012. A major change that came in his IPL career was in 2014 when he started playing for Kolkata Knight Riders. He was becoming one of the key batsmen in the last overs & was emerging out as the best finisher. He was also doing well with the ball and was becoming one of the best all-rounders in the league. He won the IPL super striker award in 2019 with a record strike rate of 204 and also won the player of the tournament award. He emerged as both the highest run-scorer and highest wicket-taker for his team. In his IPL career, he has scored 1400 runs with an average of 33.33 and a strike rate of 186.42. His highest score is 88. He has also taken 55 wickets with an economy of 8.88. His best bowling figure is 4 for 20. Still so young and already considered one of the greatest all-rounders in West Indies Cricket and T20 history, Andre still has a long way to go in his career.
Kieron Pollard
Kieron Pollard is a West Indian all-rounder. Currently, he is the captain of the West Indies in limited overs format. Pollard made his first-class debut in 2006 and ODI debut on Apr 10, 2007. He played his first T20 match on Jun 20, 2008. He is also known as one of the most destructive middle-order batsmen of all time. He is also a medium pacer bowler who can bowl at variable paces and is one of the most sought after players.
A destructive lower middle-order batsman, Pollard is also a useful medium-pacer with many variations. With the impressive performances in other leagues, he was among the hottest choices in the 2010 auctions. Pollard made his debut in 2010 for Mumbai Indians. In the earlier matches, he was not very impressive but not for long as he proved his worth later on. 2011 and 2012 seasons were very ordinary for him and he failed miserably with the bat. But the next season, he came in with a bang and scored 420 runs, picking up 10 wickets in 18 matches and helped his team in winning their first title. He has always helped his team whenever the team has needed him the most, especially in big matches, by scoring runs with an appreciable strike rate. 2015 was one of the best seasons in his IPL career statistically as he brought home the trophy again. In Pollard’s IPL career so far, he has scored 2755 runs with a strike rate of 146.78 and an average of 28.7. His highest score is 83 and has scored 14 fifties.
He has also taken 56 wickets with an economy of 8.86. His best bowling figure is 4 for 44. Pollard remains a legend in the eyes of every IPL fan and we will not witness a player of his durability and versatility anytime soon.
Shimron Hetmyer
Shimron Hetmyer is a West Indian, left-handed batsman. He was the captain of the world cup winning U-19 West Indies team. He made his ODI debut on Dec 20, 2017. He also started playing for West Indies in the T20 format on January 1,2018 and the Test team on April 21, 2017. He started making his mark by having a good conversion rate and a great technique.
Hetmyer has had a very short career in IPL. He played his first IPL match in 2019 for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Chennai. Due to his promising performance in international cricket, he was one of the eight players to watch out for in IPL 2019. But his form was not up to that mark so he got released by RCB and was later signed by the Delhi Capitals in 2020. In a total of 5 matches, he scored 90 runs with an average of 18 and a strike rate of 123.29. His highest score is 75. Shimron is still one of the biggest talents in world cricket and will only improve as time passes, so it is fair to say that we still have not seen the best of him in the IPL.
Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne Bravo is also one of the best all-rounders West Indies has ever produced. He is the former captain of the West Indies team in all formats. He made his ODI debut in 2003 against England. He has also represented his country in the T20 and Test format. He is also known for his death bowling and aggressive batting in the middle order. Bravo is famous for his slower ones and other variations in his bowling.
Bravo is one of the most loved West Indian cricketers in India. He is famous for his signature celebrations after every wicket in IPL. He started his career in IPL playing for the Mumbai Indians. He played three seasons with them and his performance was impressive which led to the Chennai Super Kings picking him in 2011. In 2012 he emerged as a top-performing player for CSK by scoring around 500 runs with an average of 57 and a strike rate of 178. In 2013 he won the purple cap by taking 32 wickets and then won his second purple cap in 2015 and was also named in all-time Cricinfo IPL 11. He is a very crucial player for his franchise who can do well with both bat and ball. He is very athletic which can be seen in the matches. So far in his IPL career, he has scored 1483 runs with an average of 23.17 and strike rate of 128.28. Bravo’s highest score is 70 with 5 fifties. He has also taken 147 wickets with an economy of 8.39. His best bowling figure is 4 for 22.
Conclusion
It would be very irrational to say who is the best Caribbean player in IPL since all of these players have unique sets of skills and different playing styles. Be it Bravo, Pollard, Hetmyer, Russell or Gayle, each player has their own records and some great moments in the IPL. They all are very important for their respective teams and have performed when their team needed them the most. It would not be fair to compare Hetmyer and Russell with Bravo, Pollard or Gayle as Hetmyer and Russell are relatively much younger and have a lot to offer in the near future. So at the end of the day, it is hard to decide who has been the best player in the IPL and will be a subject for debate among the fans.
