Top fantasy cricket players for IPL 2026
A reference of the top fantasy cricket players for the 2026 IPL season. Profiles cover role, recent form, points-per-match and the match-ups that decide their captaincy ceiling.
Batters
Suryakumar Yadav (MI) — Right-hand batter, middle-order. 2025 PPM: 94.2. Match-up edge: spin. Captaincy confidence: high. The safest captain pick in the league on most match-days.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (RR) — Left-hand batter, top-order. 2025 PPM: 88.1. Match-up edge: pace. Captaincy confidence: high on flat pitches. Lower confidence on green tracks.
Sai Sudharsan (GT) — Left-hand batter, top-order. 2025 PPM: 79.3. Match-up edge: spin. Differential pick under 25% ownership on most nights.
Virat Kohli (RCB) — Right-hand batter, top-order. 2025 PPM: 71.2. Match-up edge: pace. Captaincy confidence: medium. The 80% ownership makes him a poor captaincy differential.
Shubman Gill (GT) — Right-hand batter, top-order. 2025 PPM: 68.4. Match-up edge: pace. Captaincy confidence: high on flat tracks, medium elsewhere.
All-rounders
Rashid Khan (GT) — Leg-spin all-rounder. 2025 PPM: 84.5. Match-up edge: left-hand batters. Captaincy confidence: high when opponent has two left-handers in the top six.
Hardik Sharma (MI) — Seam-bowling all-rounder. 2025 PPM: 68.5. Match-up edge: middle-overs. Captaincy confidence: medium. The role gives both batting and bowling upside.
Andre Bader — Overseas all-rounder. 2025 PPM: 62.0. Match-up edge: powerplay. Differential captaincy option under 10% ownership.
Axar Patel (DC) — Spin-bowling all-rounder. 2025 PPM: 58.7. Match-up edge: right-hand batters. Captaincy confidence: medium-high on dry pitches.
Wicketkeeper-batters
Sanju Samson (RR) — Right-hand keeper, top-order. 2025 PPM: 71.0. Match-up edge: pace. Captaincy confidence: medium. Stumpings add 12 points each.
Rishabh Pant (LSG) — Left-hand keeper, middle-order. 2025 PPM: 65.4. Match-up edge: spin. Captaincy confidence: medium. Lower-order position lowers captaincy upside.
Ishan Kishan (SRH) — Left-hand keeper, middle-order. 2025 PPM: 58.2. Match-up edge: pace. Captaincy confidence: low-medium.
Bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah (MI) — Right-arm fast. 2025 PPM: 76.8. Match-up edge: left-hand batters. Captaincy confidence: high. The premium wicket-taking option in most matches.
Yuzvendra Chahal (RR) — Leg-spin. 2025 PPM: 62.1. Match-up edge: right-hand batters. Captaincy confidence: medium-high on dry pitches.
Mohammed Shami (GT) — Right-arm fast. 2025 PPM: 58.4. Match-up edge: right-hand batters. Captaincy confidence: medium.
Kuldeep Yadav (DC) — Left-arm wrist-spin. 2025 PPM: 54.9. Match-up edge: right-hand batters. Captaincy confidence: medium-high.
How we calculate PPM
PPM (points per match) is the player's average fantasy score across all matches played in the previous IPL season. It excludes matches where the player was rested or injured.
Match-up edge is the player's average fantasy score against a specific bowling or batting type. We compare against the league average to compute the edge.
Captaincy confidence is the {BRAND} desk's view on whether the player should be captained on most match-days. High means captain in any contest. Medium means captain in larger contests only. Low means captain rarely.
Questions readers send the desk most weeks
How often is this page updated?
Weekly during the IPL season. Daily during finals week.
Where do you get the data?
From official match scorecards, broadcaster statistics and our own editorial tracking.
Can I trust PPM as a captaincy signal?
PPM is one of five signals we use. Form (last five matches), venue record, match-up edge and ownership percentage all matter more than season-long PPM in any single match.
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