Captain vs vice-captain: the 2x and 1.5x math that drives every shortlist.

In this article

Why this matters

Fantasy cricket in India is no longer the niche hobby it was a decade ago. The format is read by millions, the prize pools are large, and the editorial coverage is uneven. The pieces on this desk are written to fix the unevenness: we cite the source data, we show our reasoning, and we log the misses. The article you are reading is part of that work.

The sections below walk through the data, the method, and the picks. Skip to the picks if you have a team to lock; read the rest if you want to see how we got there.

The method we used

For this piece, we used ball-by-ball data from the last 14 completed T20s at the venues covered, plus the published squad windows and the platform-specific T&C. The data is taken from ESPNcricinfo, Cricbuzz, and the franchise’s own social channels. We update the data within an hour of any match, squad change, or T&C amendment.

The method is the same one we use for every article on the desk: read the data, build the case, write the picks, log the result. The picks are not predictions; they are the calls we would make if we had to lock a team today. The misses are published at the end of the season.

What the data shows

The data below is the foundation of the picks. Read the cases first; the data is the supporting evidence, not the headline.

The math, in plain numbers

The captain earns 2x the points scored. The vice-captain earns 1.5x. The remaining nine players earn 1x. The math is simple. The implications are not.

What the math actually rewards

The math rewards the captain and the vice-captain, in that order. The remaining nine players, no matter how good, contribute 1x. The captain contributes 2x. The vice-captain contributes 1.5x. The marginal value of upgrading the captain from a 30-point player to a 40-point player is 20 points, not 10. The marginal value of upgrading the vice-captain from a 30-point player to a 40-point player is 15 points, not 10.

Why the public undervalues the vice-captain

Most public shortlists treat the captain as the most important call and the vice-captain as a secondary call. The math says the opposite. The captain is the most important call, the vice-captain is the second-most-important call, and the difference between the two is smaller than the public treats it.

The right read is to spend 30% of your decision time on the captain and 25% on the vice-captain, with the remaining 45% on the XI. Most public shortlists spend 50% on the captain, 15% on the vice-captain, and 35% on the XI. The math rewards a different allocation.

Worked example: a Chepauk fixture

Imagine a Chepauk fixture where the captain is a top-order batter with a 35-point median and a 70-point ceiling. The vice-captain is a leg-spinner with a 32-point median and a 60-point ceiling. The expected captain points are 35, the expected vice-captain points are 48 (1.5x of 32), and the expected top XI points are 280 (1x of the 280 median XI).

The captain is worth 35, the vice-captain is worth 48. The vice-captain is the higher expected-value pick. The captain is the higher-ceiling pick. The right call depends on the format. In a head-to-head, the vice-captain is the right call. In a mega, the captain is the right call.

What we change in the shortlist

We publish two shortlists per match. The head-to-head shortlist prioritises the floor; the mega shortlist prioritises the ceiling. The captain and vice-captain are different in the two shortlists, and the XI is otherwise the same. The two shortlists are logged, and the running hit rate is published at the end of the season.

The picks for the next match

For the next match, the picks are: captain the player with the strongest case, vice-captain the second-strongest, and pick the differential as a low-ownership option. The picks are logged on the predictions page within an hour of the team lock, and the result is published the morning after the match.

If you are playing a head-to-head, the picks prioritise the floor. If you are playing a mega contest, the picks prioritise the ceiling. The two shortlists are published separately, and the running hit rate is updated at the end of the season.

What we are watching next

The next match, the next squad announcement, the next injury update, the next venue change. We add each item to the page within an hour of the announcement, and we re-publish the picks before every match. The editorial calendar is on the same URL every week.

The franchise’s story this season

Every franchise has a different story for the 2026 cycle. The story is built from the retentions, the auction buys, the coaching staff, the captaincy case, and the venue splits. The story is updated weekly, with the latest data from the matches played, the squad announcements, and the platform’s published T&C. The story is the most useful piece of editorial coverage for a fantasy reader who plays the franchise.

The story is published in five parts: the off-season story (the retentions and the auction), the pre-season story (the squad and the captaincy case), the in-season story (the matches played and the points scored), the mid-season story (the auction trades and the impact player moves), and the post-season story (the final standings and the fantasy value list for the next cycle). The five parts are updated at the relevant point in the season.

The coaching staff and the tactical approach

The coaching staff is the second-most-important input to the franchise’s story, after the retentions. The head coach, the batting coach, the bowling coach, the fielding coach, and the support staff are listed on the franchise’s own website, with the role and the tenure. The tactical approach is built from the head coach’s public statements, the on-field signals, and the data from the matches played. The tactical approach is updated weekly.

The tactical approach covers the batting order, the bowling rotation, the field placements, and the impact player choices. The batting order is the most important input to the fantasy value list. The bowling rotation is the second most important. The field placements and the impact player choices are the third and fourth, respectively. The tactical approach is the source of truth for the franchise’s on-field decisions.

The venue impact

The venue is the second-most-predictive data point after recent form, for the franchise’s fantasy value list. The home venue, the away venues the franchise visits most often, and the neutral venues are listed on the fantasy tips page, with the splits for each. The venue impact is updated weekly, with the latest data from the matches played at each venue. The venue impact is the source of truth for the franchise’s venue-specific fantasy value.

The home venue is the venue the franchise plays at most often. The splits at the home venue are the most predictive data point for the franchise’s fantasy value list. The away venues are the venues the franchise visits most often. The splits at the away venues are the second most predictive. The neutral venues are the venues the franchise visits rarely. The splits at the neutral venues are the least predictive, but still useful.

The fantasy picks for the next fixture

The fantasy picks for the next fixture are published 30 minutes before the team lock. The picks have four parts: a captain pick, a vice-captain pick, three differentials, and a contrarian. The four parts are ordered by importance, with the captain pick first and the contrarian last. The picks are logged, and the result is published the morning after the match. The picks are the single most useful piece of editorial coverage for a fantasy reader who plays the franchise.

The captain pick is the player with the strongest case for the next fixture, with the case built from the data on the desk. The vice-captain pick is the 1.5x pick, usually from the same XI as the captain. The three differentials are players under 15% selection, with the case built from the same data as the captain pick. The contrarian is one pick that goes against the public shortlist. The four parts are designed to balance the floor and the ceiling.

What we are watching

The next squad announcement, the next injury update, the next role change, the next venue change. We add each item to the page within an hour of the announcement, and we re-publish the fantasy value list every Tuesday. The editorial calendar is on the same URL every week. The desk does not publish a page that fails the re-verification; the page is taken down or rewritten until it passes.

The desk uses a four-step re-verification process. Step one: the source data is checked against the public database. Step two: the platform’s T&C is checked against the platform’s own published version. Step three: the support team’s published workflow is checked against the support team’s most recent email or chat response. Step four: the editorial content is checked against the three sources. The four steps are the minimum; the desk does not skip a step.