Live cricket fixtures, with the fantasy read attached.
The next 48 hours of fixtures — format, venue, projected XIs, and the desk's lean — refreshed as team news arrives.
Every fixture, every format, with the fantasy angle.
From bilateral T20Is to franchise leagues — the desk tracks what matters for fantasy players.
Fixtures on the desk today.
The slate updates as soon as team news or weather changes. The desk's lean is on each match card.
Fantasy lean: bowl-first captain, top-order anchors, middle-overs spinners.
Fantasy lean: powerplay bowlers, anchor top-order, lower-order power-hitters.
Tomorrow's slate.
Test and ODI fixtures in the 24-48 hour window — the desk's longer-format calls.
Fantasy lean: wrist-spinners, middle-order anchors who play spin.
Fantasy lean: top-order anchors, death-overs pace all-rounders.
How each format changes the fantasy read.
Test, ODI, T20 — the same player profiles in different formats score fantasy points very differently.
Three format patterns worth memorising
- Test: the points reward long innings, maiden overs, and 5-wicket hauls — patience picks, not power picks
- ODI: balance matters most — powerplay scorers + middle-overs control bowlers + death-overs hitters
- T20: the variance format — wicket clusters and six-bonus ceilings dominate, role security is the top filter
What the desk checks before every fixture.
Five minutes of work that turns a hot take into a structured call.
Weather
Dew, cloud cover, wind direction — these flip the bowling order and change the captain's call.
Surface
Cracks, grass cover, and last-match history tell you whether pace or spin gains value tonight.
Squads
Net session order, press-conference hints, and final XI confirmation. Role changes are telegraphed before the official announcement.
Matchup
Head-to-head history is over-rated; the last four matches at this venue are more predictive.
Ownership
Field size matters — a 5,000-entry GPP rewards a different captain than a 50-entry head-to-head.
Live matches, frequently asked.
Common questions about the desk's match tracking and fantasy read.
How often is the live match slate updated?
The live match slate is updated whenever team news, weather, or playing conditions change. The desk publishes a refresh marker at the bottom of each match card showing the last update time.
Do you cover associate fixtures?
Yes — ICC qualifying events and bilateral associate fixtures are covered when they affect the broader fantasy calendar. Coverage is lighter for off-calendar associate matches.
What happens if a match is rained out?
The desk's match card switches to a "weather watch" state and the lean is withdrawn. The captain pick is held until the reserve day or revised schedule is confirmed.
Can I get alerts when a new fixture appears?
The desk publishes a daily watchlist via the desk's RSS and an opt-in email summary. Both are free and the subscription can be cancelled at any time.
Reference imagery for the read above.
Editorial photographs from recent fixtures and analyst sessions, used to anchor the analysis.
The slate is always moving.
Open the desk before every fixture, not after — the value of the read is in the pre-toss call.
What the desk tracks once the match is live.
Live match tracking is the moment the read becomes the lineup update. The desk updates the captaincy call and the role-balance read as the match unfolds, with the same four-step method applied to the in-game data.
Powerplay reads
The first six overs are the cleanest read on the matchup. A top-order anchor struggling against the new ball is a captain downgrade; a wrist-spinner getting turn in the first powerplay is a captain upgrade. The desk updates the captaincy call in real time, with the in-game data attached.
Middle phase
The middle phase (overs 7-15) is where the contest is usually decided. A spinner in the wickets in overs 8-12 confirms the pre-match read; a batter rebuilding after a powerplay wobble is the new captain candidate. The desk tracks the wickets-per-over rate and the dot-ball percentage in this phase.
Death overs
Death overs are the ceiling phase. The desk watches the death-overs seamers for yorker accuracy, the power-hitters for six-bonus rate, and the boundary length on the side the captain is targeting. A short square boundary on the leg side flips the captaincy call to the side with the bigger hitters.
The captaincy update
Once the match is live, the desk's published captain pick is no longer locked. If the in-game data changes the projection — a wicket cluster, a quick rebuild, a dew-induced role change — the desk updates the call with the data attached. The reader sees the update with a "live" marker and the timestamp.
Live tracking signals
- Powerplay run rate — first six overs
- Wickets per over — middle phase efficiency
- Dot ball % — bowler pressure indicator
- Boundary rate — batter intent indicator
- Dew onset — when the ball starts sliding on
- Required run rate — chase context, not just score
The desk's live match page is updated at every wicket, every over-end, and every weather change. The "last update" timestamp is on every match card so the reader knows the freshness of the read.
Where the live page hands off.
The live page is the source of the fixture list. The other pages on the desk fill in the prediction, the captaincy, and the player-level data.
The desk's calls
The predictions page is where the live fixture list gets the desk's read — pitch report, toss lean, captain pick, and differential option for every match.
Predictions →The projected XI
The teams page is where the projected XI gets the structural read — role balance, bench depth, and the franchise or international side's salary distribution.
Teams →The franchise coverage
The IPL page is the long-form coverage of the world's most-watched T20 league — auction reactions, captaincy log, and venue-by-venue cheat sheets.
IPL coverage →Format by format — what the desk reads differently.
The format is the second signal after the venue. The same player profiles in different formats score fantasy points very differently — and the desk's captaincy calls change with the format.
Test match
Test cricket rewards patience. The points system rewards long innings, maiden overs, and 5-wicket hauls. The desk's Test captaincy calls lean towards anchors who play long innings, spinners with control, and pace bowlers with the stamina to bowl 30+ overs in a match.
ODI
ODI is the balance format. The desk's ODI captaincy calls split between powerplay scorers, middle-overs control bowlers, and death-overs hitters. The 50-over format rewards role security, not variance — the captain pick is usually a high-floor option.
T20
T20 is the variance format. Wicket clusters and six-bonus ceilings dominate. The desk's T20 captaincy calls split between a high-floor option for cash games and a high-ceiling option for GPP contests. Role security is the top filter — a T20 player without a defined role is a captain candidate for the wrong reasons.
The Hundred
The Hundred rewards power-hitting in the 5-ball blocks. The desk's Hundred captaincy calls lean towards power-hitters and death-overs bowlers with yorker accuracy. Role security is even more important than in T20 — the 100-ball format compresses the points window.
How the format changes the projection
- Test — patience picks, not power picks
- ODI — balance picks, not star picks
- T20 — role security first, ceiling second
- The Hundred — power picks, role security still matters
The same player can be a captain candidate in one format and a differential in another. The format is the structural read on the captaincy call — and the desk's read changes with it.
How the live page is built.
The live page is the desk's source of truth for the next 48 hours of fixtures. Here's how the page is built, and what the reader can expect from it.
Source priority
The live page's primary source is the official fixture list — the board's published schedule, the franchise's published calendar, the operator's own fixture feed. Secondary sources (reputable cricket media) are used to corroborate, not replace. The "last update" timestamp on each match card shows when the page was last refreshed.
Coverage window
The desk covers the next 48 hours in full, with the next 7 days in summary form. Coverage intensity scales with the calendar — IPL playoffs get full coverage, an associate bilateral gets a single match card. The reader can see the coverage intensity on every match card.
What the live page delivers
- Match cards — venue, format, projected XI, weather, desk's lean
- Live updates — captaincy call adjusted as the match unfolds
- Format guide — how Test, ODI, T20, and The Hundred change the read
- Pre-toss checklist — five things the desk checks before every fixture
The live page is built around the calendar, not the editorial cycle. The reader knows when to expect an update because the update is on a schedule, not on inspiration.