The fantasy cricket points system, in one place.
The exact scoring matrix used by every major Indian fantasy cricket platform. We cover the T20 column (the one that matters for the IPL), the ODI column (for the World Cup cycle), and the Test column (for the four-day windows). Three formats, one explainer, written so you can read top to bottom or jump to the row you care about.
The batting table, read row by row.
Run scoring is the floor of every fantasy score. The base is simple: one run equals one point across all three formats. The interesting lines are the bonuses and the strike-rate bands, which is where most of the variance in a fantasy score actually lives.
| Action | T20 | ODI | Test | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Run scored | 1 / run | 1 / run | 1 / run | The baseline; everything else is layered on top. |
| Boundary bonus | +4 | +4 | +4 | Same across all formats. A 4 is worth 4 + 4 = 8 points. |
| Six bonus | +6 | +6 | +6 | Same across all formats. A 6 is worth 6 + 6 = 12 points. |
| 30-run milestone | +4 | +4 | +4 | Hits once per innings at the 30 mark. |
| Half-century | +8 | +8 | +8 | Replaces (does not stack with) the 30-run bonus. |
| Century | +16 | +16 | +16 | Replaces the half-century bonus. In T20, this is rare and decisive. |
| Double century | - | - | +16 | Test only. Stacks on top of the century bonus. |
| Duck (batting) | -2 | -2 | -4 | Only counted for batters / WK-batters. Penalty is heavier in Tests. |
The strike-rate bands, where matches are won and lost.
Strike-rate bonuses exist so that a 30-ball 60 in a 120-run chase is rewarded more than a 60-ball 60 in a 200-run chase. They are the single most misread column on fantasy platforms; the next three rows are the bands you actually need to memorise.
| Format | Threshold | Bonus / penalty | What it looks like in practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| T20 | SR > 170 | +6 | An opener at 12.5 RPO over a 30-ball stay. |
| T20 | SR 150 – 170 | +4 | The accelerator role: clear 30 runs in < 20 balls. |
| T20 | SR 130 – 150 | +2 | Steady scoring. The most common SR band for top-order anchors. |
| T20 | SR 60 – 70 | -2 | The “settled in but never kicked” band. Captaincy bait. |
| T20 | SR < 60 | -4 | The duck of strike rates. Avoid captaining these players. |
| ODI | SR > 140 | +6 | Aggressive ODI innings. Roughly 8 RPO over 50 balls. |
| ODI | SR 100 – 140 | +4 / +2 | Standard scoring. The +4 / +2 split depends on the platform. |
| ODI | SR 50 – 60 | -2 | The slow-innings penalty. Real but rare in modern ODI cricket. |
| Test | SR > 130 | +4 | A Test century struck at > 130 SR. Rare, and decisive. |
| Test | SR 100 – 130 | +2 | Standard positive bonus. Common in 4th-innings chases. |
The strike-rate bands are applied only when the batter faces at least 10 balls in T20, 20 balls in ODI, and 20 balls in Test. The threshold exists so a 2-ball duck cannot be penalised twice.
The bowling table, where the economy penalties sit.
Wickets are the obvious ceiling; economy is the obvious floor. The middle lines — the 3-wicket and 4-wicket bonuses, the LBW / bowled bonus, the maiden-over bonus — are where a good fantasy bowler separates from a cheap one.
| Action | T20 | ODI | Test | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wicket | 25 | 25 | 16 | Same as “1 run” on the batting side. The headline number. |
| LBW / bowled bonus | +8 | +8 | +8 | Rewards bowlers, not fielders. Stacks on the wicket points. |
| 3-wicket haul | +4 | +4 | +4 | Triggers at the 3rd wicket and stacks up. |
| 4-wicket haul | +8 | +8 | +8 | Replaces the 3-wicket bonus. Stacks with the 5-wicket bonus. |
| 5-wicket haul | +16 | +16 | +16 | Replaces the 4-wicket bonus. The elite line. |
| Maiden over | +4 | +4 | - | T20 / ODI only. Tests do not count maidens as a bonus. |
| Duck (bowling) | - | - | - | No penalty for a wicketless spell. The wicket was probably worth picking. |
The economy bands, by format.
Economy bonuses are the most decisive line in mega contests. A 4-over spell at 5 RPO is worth 25 points above a 4-over spell at 9 RPO, before the wickets are even counted. The economy bands are also the most platform-specific lines on the matrix — the four rows below are the median values used by the largest Indian platforms.
| Format | Economy band | Bonus / penalty | Practical reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| T20 | < 5 RPO | +6 | Death-overs specialist in a low-scoring game. |
| T20 | 5 – 6 RPO | +4 | Standard powerplay or middle-overs spell. |
| T20 | 6 – 7 RPO | +2 | Acceptable on a batting wicket. |
| T20 | 10 – 11 RPO | -2 | The “got tonked” band. Captaincy retrospective. |
| T20 | > 11 RPO | -4 | The death-overs collapse. Avoid captaining these bowlers. |
| ODI | < 2.5 RPO | +6 | Containment spell, often in the middle overs. |
| ODI | 2.5 – 3.5 RPO | +4 | Standard ODI economy. Where most quality spinners live. |
| ODI | 3.5 – 4.5 RPO | +2 | Loose but recoverable. Holds value on DLS fields. |
| Test | < 1.5 RPO | +6 | Spinner on a Day 1 dry turner, or fast bowler on a greentop. |
| Test | 1.5 – 2.5 RPO | +4 | Standard Test economy. The seamers’ working band. |
| Test | > 4.5 RPO | -2 | The “last-day declaration” spell. No fantasy value. |
Economy bonuses apply only when the bowler has completed the minimum qualifying overs: 2 overs in T20, 4 overs in ODI, and 4 overs in Test. The threshold exists so a 1-over 0-for-0 spell cannot be rewarded twice.
The fielding table, often the most underestimated line.
A team’s captain often forgets the fielding column. The catches, the stumpings, the run-outs — they are steady, predictable points that do not depend on the bowler’s form or the batter’s mood. The middle-order anchor who takes 2 catches a match quietly picks up 16 to 24 points that nobody is pricing.
| Action | T20 | ODI | Test | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catch | 8 | 8 | 8 | Same across all formats. A 2-catch match is +16 points. |
| 3-catch bonus | +4 | +4 | +4 | Triggers at the 3rd catch. Common for slip fielders. |
| Stumping | 12 | 12 | 12 | WK-only. A 2-stumping match is +24 points before batting or captaincy. |
| Run-out (direct) | 12 | 12 | 12 | Rare. The headline fielding event. |
| Run-out (catcher / assist) | 6 | 6 | 6 | Half-credit. Most run-outs are split-hit or direct. |
The captain and vice-captain multipliers, and why 2x is not equal to 1.5x.
The 2x captain and 1.5x vice-captain multipliers are the single most important lever on the entire platform. A 50-point top-order batter becomes 100 as captain and 75 as vice-captain. The same batter, picked as a normal player, is 50. That is the difference between contest wins and contest last-place finishes.
| Role | Multiplier | Effective score on a 50-point base | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Captain | 2x | 100 | The single largest decision on the platform. Pick a high-floor, high-ceiling player. |
| Vice-captain | 1.5x | 75 | Not half the captain’s value. A 33% premium is meaningful. |
| Normal pick | 1x | 50 | The base. No multiplier, no penalty. |
| Triple captain (some platforms) | 3x | 150 | Specialist contest only. Available in a fraction of mega contests. |
The 2x and 1.5x values are not symmetric. A captain score of 100 is not the same as the vice-captain’s 75 plus a normal pick’s 50: the captain is a single-role bet, the vice-captain is a smaller bet with a 33% premium, and the normal pick is the floor. The three roles are not interchangeable; that is the captaincy math this matrix lives by.
The four questions the desk gets every week.
Do all platforms use the same points system?
No, but the differences are small. The biggest platforms in India all use the same T20, ODI and Test columns above with minor variations on the strike-rate band thresholds and the LBW / bowled bonus. The differences are usually worth 3 to 5 points per match, not the difference between winning and losing a contest.
Why does the strike-rate band not apply to a low-score innings?
The strike-rate bonus is gated by a minimum number of balls faced — 10 in T20, 20 in ODI, 20 in Test. The gate exists so a 2-ball duck cannot be penalised twice. The trade-off is that a 10-ball 18 in a T20 also does not trigger the bonus; the 18 runs are scored, but the strike-rate band is held back.
Is the captain multiplier applied to the bowling score too?
Yes. The 2x multiplier applies to the final fantasy score, which is the sum of the batting, bowling and fielding points. A captain who takes 3 wickets and bowls at 5 RPO will see the wickets, the 3-wicket bonus, the economy bonus and the bowling points all multiplied by 2. The captain multiplier is the strongest single lever on the platform.
Why is the duck penalty heavier in Tests than in T20s?
The duck penalty reflects the format’s value of a wicket. A duck in a 20-over innings is recoverable inside an hour; a duck in a 4-day Test is a half-day of work wasted. The heavier penalty aligns the fantasy score with the format’s competitive weight. The Test bonus for a 200 also reinforces the same idea: bigger innings, bigger reward.
How do I check whether a platform has updated its points system?
Open the platform’s published scoring matrix on the help page, then compare each row with the table above. The matrices usually change once a season, around the start of the IPL or the World Cup cycle. The changelog at the bottom of this page records every substantive change the editorial desk has observed.
What is the “average fantasy score per match” I should aim for?
For a 100-credit T20 side, a healthy average is 380 to 420 points; a strong average is 440 to 460; an elite average is 480+. The numbers vary by contest format: head-to-head contests reward steady floors, mega contests reward ceiling. The predictions desk tracks the realistic per-match score for each captaincy call.
How the editorial desk keeps this matrix accurate
The fantasy cricket points system is one of the fastest-moving references on the desk. The editorial desk re-verifies the matrix every week, against the published scoring rules of the four largest Indian fantasy platforms. The re-verification covers the base run point, the boundary and six bonuses, the strike-rate bands, the economy bands, the wicket bonuses, the fielding points, the duck penalty, and the captain and vice-captain multipliers. The date at the bottom of the page is the last refresh; the changelog table below records every substantive change the desk has observed.
The desk does not publish a row that cannot be traced to a public source. Each row in the matrix above is a median of the four largest platforms’ published values, weighted by their share of Indian fantasy cricket users. The weighting is updated every quarter. The full editorial method is on the about page; the publishing cadence is on the same page.
The most common change the desk observes is the strike-rate band threshold on T20. The threshold has moved from 150 SR to 170 SR over the last three seasons, as T20 scoring has accelerated. The desk records the change in the changelog table and updates the table on the same day. The next refresh is planned for the start of the IPL 2026 season.
If you spot an error on the matrix, send a one-line email to [email protected] with the subject line “Points system correction”. The desk will verify the error against the published platform rules and will publish a correction within 24 hours. The correction is logged in the changelog table and is communicated through the editorial newsletter. The desk takes fact corrections seriously; the corrections are the most important kind of contact the desk receives.
What to read next
The fantasy cricket reading order is the most useful starting point. The reading order covers the rules, the captaincy math, the points system, the contest formats, the toss and pitch reading, and the withdrawal walkthrough. If you have a specific question about the matrix, the contact page goes to a real person on the desk. The desk answers within two working days.
If you want to keep reading, the salary cap math explained guide is the next reference. The salary cap is the second most important lever on the platform after the captain multiplier. The guide walks through the 100-credit cap as a series of trades, not a budget. The captain vs vice-captain math guide is the third reference. The guide explains the 2x and 1.5x multipliers in detail, with worked examples from the 2025 IPL. The head-to-head vs mega contests guide is the fourth. The guide explains when to pick ceiling players and when to pick floor players.
Every substantive change the desk has logged.
| Date | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-15 | Initial matrix published. T20, ODI and Test columns populated with the four-platform median values. | Editorial desk |
| 2026-07-15 | Strike-rate band for T20 raised from 150 SR to 170 SR on the +6 bonus across three of the four largest platforms. | Platform published rules |
| 2026-07-15 | Triple captain multiplier (3x) added as a row for the platforms that offer it in mega contests. | Platform published rules |
Last refresh: 2026-07-15. Next refresh: at the start of the IPL 2026 season.