Role-balance band
Top-order 2 / Middle-order 1 / Allrounders 2 / Pace 1 / Spin 1. The captain slot sits on a finisher or death-overs allrounder; differential on a wrist-spin allrounder when the surface turns.
The two contests you will actually play
| Contest | Team size | Captain multiplier | Vice multiplier | Entry fee band | Typical payout tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pick 5 | 5 players | 1.6× | 1.4× | ₹10 – ₹500 | Solid |
| Pick 7 | 7 players | 2.0× | 1.5× | ₹25 – ₹2,000 | High-ceiling |
| Practice | 5 / 7 | Same | Same | Free | — |
The captain arithmetic — worked example
Take MUM v CSK, 19:30 IST, 29-Jul. Pick 7 contest, entry fee ₹100. Your team: Rohit (top-order, 60 L5 avg), Jaiswal (top-order, 48 L5), J. Pandya (allrounder, 41 L5 C), A. Mukund (top-order, 55 L5 avg, ceiling 142), R. Jadeja (allrounder, 38 L5 C), Bumrah (pace, 2.4 L5 wkt), M. Dhoni (WK, 32 L5 avg). The captain slot is where the differential sits.
If you captain J. Pandya, his 41 allround composite becomes 82 (×2). Vice-captain A. Mukund at 55 L5 with ceiling 142 becomes 82.5 (×1.5). Effective composite: 41 (Rohit) + 48 (Jaiswal) + 82 (Pandya) + 82.5 (Mukund) + 38 (Jadeja) + 24 (Bumrah × 4 standard multiplier) + 32 (Dhoni). The captain slot is the lever.
Why the captain slot sits on the allrounder
An allrounder scores on two axes — batting and bowling — so the multiplier compounds. A wrist-spin allrounder on a slow surface is the highest-ceiling captain pick in any Pick 7 fixture.
Role balance — what fits each format
Role-balance band
Top-order 2 / Middle-order 1 / Allrounders 2 / Wrist-spin 1 / Pace 1. Captain on middle-overs wrist-spin allrounder; differential on the second pace bowler if the surface is green.
Role-balance band
Top-order 1 / Allrounder 1 / Wrist-spin 1 / Pace 1 / Wicket-keeper bat 1. Captain on day-3 spinner; differential on the pace allrounder when the surface rough begins.
Role-balance band
Top-order 4 / Allrounder 1. Captain on the highest ceiling opener; differential on the franchise opener who bats maximum balls in the 10-over window.
The venue reading — 14 venues tracked
| Venue | Surface | Avg 1st-innings (T20) | Dew window | Pace / spin split | Captaincy window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wankhede · Mumbai | Red soil | 172 | High | 60/40 | Death overs |
| Chepauk · Chennai | Dusty turner | 156 | Moderate | 40/60 | Middle overs spin |
| Eden Gardens · Kolkata | Slow black | 162 | Moderate | 55/45 | Powerplay death |
| Feroz Shah Kotla · Delhi | Dusty | 158 | High | 45/55 | Powerplay spin |
| M. Chinnaswamy · Bengaluru | Flat | 185 | High | 65/35 | Death overs |
| Narendra Modi Stadium · Ahmedabad | Variable | 168 | High | 50/50 | Middle overs |
| Rajiv Gandhi · Hyderabad | Dusty turner | 154 | Moderate | 45/55 | Powerplay spin |
| Sawai Mansingh · Jaipur | Variable | 164 | High | 60/40 | Powerplay death |
| BRSABV Ekana · Lucknow | Spin-friendly | 152 | Moderate | 40/60 | Middle overs spin |
| PCA Stadium · Mohali | Bouncy pace | 171 | High | 70/30 | Powerplay death |
| PCA IS Bindra · Mohali | Bouncy pace | 175 | High | 72/28 | Powerplay death |
The differential pick — three rules
- Rule 1 — low ownership Differential means sub-10% on the contest register. The use reward only kicks in when the captain is on a small pool.
- Rule 2 — venue match Pick the differential on a venue that fits their history. A wrist-spin allrounder on a dust bowl is a differential; the same pick on a flat deck is a wasted slot.
- Rule 3 — recent form bar Five green bars. If the differential sits at amber, drop them. The differential only compounds when form is real.
Reading list — desk editions worth revisiting
- Tonight's predictions ledger
- Match centre · live and upcoming fixtures
- Team captaincy rotation matrices
- Player dossier · form bars and ceiling tier
Reader questions — fantasy tips
Does the desk promise a win?
No. The desk publishes reasoned recommendations and the captaincy arithmetic. Fantasy wins depend on contest size, payout tier and opponent moves.
Pick 5 or Pick 7?
Pick 5 = smaller use, smaller variance. Pick 7 = larger use, larger variance. Most desk readers find Pick 7 a better calendar of captain picks because the role-balance band is wider.
What is a "differential"?
A captain pick with sub-10% ownership. The use reward only compounds on small pools. Differential is not a synonym for "high ceiling"; it is a synonym for "low ownership on a high-ceiling pick".
How is "ceiling tier" set?
From boom-to-bust ratio above 15%. We publish the boom % on every player card; ceiling-tier players are flagged in green.
What about the practice contest?
Free entry, same multiplier. Use the practice contest to test your captain arithmetic before committing to a paid contest.
What about live in-play?
Live in-play contests on FanCode lock the captaincy window at the toss. The desk doesn't run in-play picks; we publish pre-match captaincy only.
Reading the contest register before you pick
The contest register tells you more than the contest ID. It tells you the number of entries, the contest size tier, the payout structure (top-3, top-10, top-20% cut), and the entry-fee band. The desk's reading: a top-20% contest rewards balanced picks because the field is dense; a top-3 contest rewards differentials because the ceiling tier wins outright.
Where to spend your entry
Free practice contests are where you test your captain arithmetic. The same squad you build for a free practice should be the squad you enter in a low-tier paid contest — never the other way round. The captain arithmetic doesn't change between free and paid; what changes is how the contest register responds to your call.
Build the squad before the toss, not after
The squad lock window closes at the toss for most contests. Build your squad off the predicted XI from the previous fixture plus the surface + dew reading; adjust the captaincy at the toss if the actual XI differs significantly. Building after the toss is a recipe for a "rushed to land" captain pick that doesn't go through the math.
Reading the contest register — a deeper cut
The contest register tells you more than the contest ID. It tells you the contest size (number of entries), the cut structure (top-3, top-10, top-20%, etc.), and the entry-fee band. For a deep-cut reading: a top-3 contest rewards the differential captain; a top-20% contest rewards balanced picks; a mega contest (10,000+ entries) rewards a mix of consensus and differential where the consensus carries the floor and the differential carries the ceiling.
The desk doesn't publish every contest's full structure on this page — the in-app contest register carries the version-of-record. We publish reading notes on the contest register's typical shape across marquee fixtures.