Fantasy Post

The winner of the Asia Cup 2008 Edition of Cricinfo Fantasy Cricket is BigBrown and The Coolies. How politically incorrect is that? You gotta admit, though, it's a pretty clever name. And right here, right now, to it goes the award of The Most Powerful Asia Cup Name Combination (TMPACNC) Trophy.

In second place and third place are AM11 and AMXI and QY74 and SL-I-P 2. one after another.

One Un-important Observation (OUiO): They all had the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in their fantasy teams. The MVP is the winner of the Shane Watson of the Asia Cup Award (SWACAW): In which we don't just look at which cricketer scored the maximum points for their fantasy teams. We also look at what cost.

And The SWACAW goes to SK Raina for racking up a thrilling 726 points at a modest bill of 80,000 Fantasy Monies (FM_). On the basis of the Points(P)/FM_ ratio (PFM) that throws up the MVP, Raina runs away with this Prestigious Award (PA) in the face of stiff competition from Better-known Big Names (BBN) like Sanath Jayasuriya (694)/(105000_), Sangakkara (643)/(105000_) and MS Dhoni (654)/(105000_). Unsuccessfully.

While the Asia Cup might well be a series of mostly one-sided run-fests, the fantasy edition of it is turning out to be quite a nail-biter. Only 25 points separate the top 3 teams at this stage of the game. Let's take a quick look at their chosen ones before the India vs Pakistan tie later this afternoon.

As I write this, all the three have Indian players as their 'Trumps'. Is that likely to change for this match? Going by the comic state of affairs in the Pakistani camp, unlikely. The beleaguered hosts have spun a surprise of sorts by announcing their XI well in advance of the game. As the great old men of cricket lore love to say: Pakistan are at their most dangerous when down. If conventional wisdom is anything to go by India better, if not beware, at least, be careful. Spotted but not ribbed:

1. Suresh Raina. At 80k, the boy has been the most valuable player of the tournament so far. It has been a hard road back into the Indian team for the brilliant batsman and fielder from North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This time, the young man looks determined to make it count. He has been my Shane Watson of the Asia Cup.

2. The Random Team Picker needs to get its head re-examined. Or find a very good reason to tell me why I shouldn't have more than 1 star player in my fantasy team despite having the funds to buy 3. I mean, it's all very fine to want to be like the Shane Warne and the 'Rajasthan Royals' and put together a winning team at an unacceptably low cost, bu ... hold on. That's it! I get it! That's pretty much what the Random Team Picker has been trying to outdo for us all this while!

After the 9th match of this less than rapturously received tournament, here's how the star players stack up on the fantasy points table. (I've added in Raina because from the numbers he has returned until now, he promises to do in the Asia Cup what Shane Watson did in the IPL.)

Player/Cost/Points: MS Dhoni (105000) (TTP)* 318 Mhd. Yousuf (105000) 97 DPMD Jayawerdene (100000) 116 ST Jayasuriiya (105000) 192 Shahid Afridi (95000) 93 IK Pathan (95000) 0 KC Sangakkara (105000) 462 Muralitharan (105000) 140 Sohail Tanvir (95000) 468 Raina (80000) 635

All this to say it's best not to judge a player by his price tag. The fantasy gurus are the ones that manage to get more bang for their buck by identifying the Watsons and the Rainas of the tournament before the rest have. It's this ability to scratch the surface and go beyond the obvious that separates the experts from the dabblers.

*My experiment with MS Dhoni as my 'Tournament Trump Player' to demonstrate how much better players will perform when they don't let encumbrances like patriotism and emotions guide them in their decision-making and, instead, strive to be nimble, merciless and dynamic in their Trump Player choices.

I have a confession to make: I love fantasy, but I suck at it. And so, I’m counting on you guys to help me get better at it.

People say it’s easy to pick a fantasy team. They say, "Why not let the random team picker that has just been introduced by the helpful folks at Cricinfo.com do it for you." I say, why would I want to do something as silly as that. What does a bot know about team selection? (Not much, if you've ever tried it.) Instead, I’m going to depend on you the good Samaritans to send in your fantasy teams for the just-launched Asia Cup game to me … so I can get it right by copying you.

Welcome to Fantasy Post, a blog devoted to fantasy cricket. Fantasy Post promises to be a space in which more than one voice will be heard and a room that belongs to all of us. It will be an easygoing many-on-one with the enthusiastic if horrendous fantasy player who has always wondered why he never ends anywhere near the top of any fantasy league standings.

The less I agonise over my probable team the better. The more instinctive my choices are the smarter they’re likely to be. Pick on current form. Don’t go by reputations; even if they come with glamourous price tags attached to their big names. Remember how so-so and let you down in the IPL? Click. Select. Unselect. Select. Tcha! Try again. Obviously, this business of team selection is great fun. And not easy to master. Not even if you happen to be a cricket expert. (The last few fantasy game leagues in Cricinfo were won by ordinary people our resident ‘cricket experts’ wouldn’t deign to talk cricket with.)