The story so far in the Asia Cup

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.