How to Play Season Fantasy — The Tournament-Long Cricket Game

Most fantasy cricket games reset every match. You pick 11 players, the match ends, and you start again. Season Fantasy flips that on its head. You build one squad at the start of a tournament and manage it across every game — making you think like a real selector, not just a match-day gambler.

What Is Season Fantasy?

Season Fantasy is CricketDream's tournament-long game mode. For the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, that means one squad of 11 players competing across all 33 matches and 12 nations. Your cumulative points from every game add up to your final score on the global leaderboard.

Unlike regular Fantasy XI — where you can pick any 11 fresh players each round — Season Fantasy gives you 75 transfers across the whole tournament. Every player swap is a decision. Do you drop a star who had a quiet match? Or hold your nerve and trust the form that made you pick them in the first place?

How It Works — The Basics

1. Go to Season Fantasy and click Build Your Team
2. Select 11 players from any of the 12 competing nations within a 100 Cr budget
3. Set a captain (2× points) and vice-captain (1.5× points) — both can be changed before every match at no cost
4. Your team is snapshotted at each match start time — save your changes before kick-off
5. Points accumulate across all 33 matches; the leaderboard shows your running total
6. Use your 75 transfers to respond to injuries, drops, or form slumps across the tournament

Why Season Fantasy Is Different

In a standard match-day fantasy game, a bad pick costs you one match. In Season Fantasy, a bad pick that you hold for five matches can cost you hundreds of points. This forces deeper thinking — you need to evaluate players over a tournament arc, not just a single game.

On the flip side, a great pick that runs in form for 10 straight matches can be worth far more than any single-match star. That's the beauty of the format: long-form cricket insight is rewarded over lucky single-match gambles.

Transfer Strategy — How to Use Your 75 Wisely

75 transfers across 33 matches works out to about 2.27 per round. Think of it as a budget: spend early when you must, but save some for the knockout stages when every match is elimination cricket and team selection changes sharply.

Transfers are charged on the net change to your squad in each window — not on every swap you make. We compare the squad you started the window with against the squad you finish with, and only count the players that actually changed. Swap A out for C and later change C for G, and that counts as a single transfer (A out, G in). Swap A out for C and then bring A back, and it costs nothing. That means you can experiment freely during the window and finalise your XI after the playing teams are announced, without burning transfers on changes you reverse.

• Hold players through one quiet match — one bad game does not mean a form collapse
• Act quickly on confirmed injuries or dropped players — they score 0 if they do not play
• Prioritise transfers on players from teams still in the tournament as groups progress
• Rotating a player out and back in within the same window is free — only changes you keep until the match locks count, so stability across matches is what protects your budget
• Save 5–8 transfers for the knockouts, when squad depth and team news become critical

Building a Winning Squad from the Start

Your initial XI is the most important decision you make. A strong starting squad reduces the number of panic transfers you need to make and keeps your budget intact for genuinely necessary changes.

• Spread your squad across multiple nations — do not put all your budget into one country's players in case they exit after the group stage
• Prioritise all-rounders who score from both bat and ball — they have the highest points ceiling per match
• Pick your anchor captain early: an elite all-rounder you can captain in most matches is worth more than a brilliant specialist
• Fill the budget tail with reliable group-stage performers from strong nations (Australia, India, England, New Zealand)
• Check recent T20I form, not career stats — international women's cricket form can shift quickly

Captain Picks — The Free Lever You Must Use

Because C/VC changes cost nothing, there is no excuse for leaving your default captain in place every match. A well-timed captaincy change — putting the armband on an all-rounder whose team is favourites against a weak opposition — can add 30–50 bonus points in a single match.

• Review your captain before every single match — it takes 30 seconds and costs nothing
• Captain your best all-rounder (bat + bowl) in matches where they are likely to feature heavily
• Rotate the captaincy to a reliable batter when your primary captain is bowling on a flat pitch
• Avoid captaining bowlers in home grounds known for high totals, or batters in pace-friendly conditions
• In knockout matches, favour proven big-game performers over in-form group-stage picks

Scoring — How Points Work

Season Fantasy uses the standard CricketDream T20I scoring system. Every run, wicket, catch, and fielding credit your players earn in real matches translates directly into fantasy points. Your captain earns 2× those points; your vice-captain earns 1.5×.

• Batting: +1 per run, +2 boundary, +4 six, +15 half-century, +30 century
• Bowling: +25 per wicket, +10 maiden, +15 three-wicket haul, +25 five-wicket haul
• Fielding: +10 per catch/stumping/run-out, +10 bonus for 3+ fielding credits in a match
• Bonus: +25 Man of the Match, +4 for being in the playing XI
• Captain: 2× all points | Vice-captain: 1.5× all points

Private Leagues — Compete with Friends

Season Fantasy is also available in private league format. You and your friends each use your own global season teams, but a separate leaderboard tracks only your group. Create a league in Season Fantasy → Leagues, share the invite code, and the whole tournament becomes a competition within your circle.

Tips from the Best Season Fantasy Managers

• Never skip captain review — it's free and compounds across 33 matches
• Hold your nerve with big-name players through one or two quiet matches
• Act fast on confirmed injuries; a player who does not play scores zero
• Think about which teams make the knockout stages when building your initial squad
• Use early group-stage transfers to fine-tune your team, then bank transfers for the knockouts
• Follow official team announcements before each match — playing XI often changes in tournaments