A regular Draft ends the moment the match does. You snake-pick a small squad, score one game, and the room closes. That's great for a quick head-to-head on match day, but it means the rivalry never gets to breathe, you can't spend a whole series proving you drafted better than your friend. Multi Draft is CricketDream's answer to that: draft your squad once, then let it score automatically across every match you chose, for as long as the series runs.
What Is Multi Draft?
Multi Draft is a season-long fantasy cricket draft. You and up to three friends snake-draft a squad exactly once, the same way you would for a single-match Draft, except the players you pick stay on your roster and earn points automatically for every match in the series you selected. There's no re-drafting between games. Whoever's squad has scored the most points once the last selected match finishes wins.
It only works for international cricket, not IPL or other franchise leagues. That's by design: Multi Draft is built around a bounded series or tournament, a bilateral T20I series, a tri-series, an Asian Games or World Cup campaign, where the list of matches is fixed in advance and everyone drafting knows exactly how many games their squad needs to last.
Multi Draft vs Draft, side by side
The picks-per-manager floor is the detail most people miss. Draft can go as small as 5 players because it only has to cover one game. Multi Draft never drops below 7, because a 5-player squad would run out of road across a full series, someone gets injured, rested or dropped, and you're stuck. Defaulting to a full 11 is CricketDream nudging you toward a squad that can actually survive the distance.
Two ways to run a Multi Draft
Multi-Match: pick your own set of games
Tick anywhere from 2 to 14 upcoming matches from the eligible list when you create the room. Good for a specific stretch you care about, say, just the knockout matches of a tournament, or a 3-match bilateral series, without committing to every fixture on the calendar.
Season Long: draft once, cover the whole series
Switch the game type to Season Long and CricketDream auto-selects every eligible match in the series for you, no manual ticking. Draft a squad ahead of a full international campaign and your picks score from the first match through to the final. This is the closest CricketDream gets to a proper fantasy league: one draft, one squad, one full tournament.
Substitutions: the feature a single match doesn't need
A regular Draft has no concept of a substitution, the match starts within hours of the draft, so whoever you picked is who you're stuck with, for better or worse. A series lasting two or three weeks is a different problem: a bowler pulls up injured after game one, or a batter gets dropped from the XI, and your whole squad is dead weight for the rest of the tournament.
Multi Draft solves this with a configurable substitution limit, set by whoever creates the room (0 by default, meaning off). If enabled, swapping out an underperforming or unavailable player is safe: the outgoing player keeps every point they already scored for you, and the incoming player starts earning from the very next match onward. Nothing you've already banked is at risk, a substitution only affects points going forward.
Multi Draft strategy: building a squad that lasts
Prioritise consistency over peak performers
A batter who scores 35–45 every match is worth more than one who scores 90 once and 5 the next time. Across a full series, consistent contributions outperform boom-or-bust players.
Check workload and rest patterns
Bowlers in longer series sometimes get rotated. If a key fast bowler is likely to miss a match, that's a real risk in Multi Draft. All-rounders and players nailed on for every game are the safer picks.
Balance bat and ball
A squad with genuine all-rounders accumulates more points across a series than one loaded purely with batters or purely with bowlers. All-rounders give you scoring chances in every single match, not just the ones that suit them.
Captain choice matters even more
If your room has Captain/Vice-Captain switched on, your captain's multiplier applies every match, not just one. Over a full series that compounds fast, so pick a captain who'll play every match and score consistently, not a boom-or-bust name who might vanish for two games.
Which one should you actually play?
- Playing tonight, want a result by the time the match ends: Draft.
- Following a whole series or tournament with friends and want the bragging rights to last as long as the cricket does. Multi Draft, Multi-Match mode.
- Want to draft once and forget about it until the trophy is lifted: Multi Draft, Season Long mode.
- Want to try a franchise league (IPL, the Hundred, ETPL) in draft format. Draft, since Multi Draft is internationals-only.
- New to drafting and want to learn the mechanics fast. Draft against a bot first, since Multi Draft has no bot option.
Both games share the same snake-draft engine and the same four pick-order options, so nothing you learn playing one is wasted on the other. Try a regular Draft first if you've never drafted before, then bring what you learned into a Multi Draft for the next series.
Setting up your first Multi Draft
- Open Multi Draft and choose Multi-Match (pick your own games) or Season Long (every eligible match, auto-selected).
- For Multi-Match, tick the matches you want covered: 2 to 14 of them.
- Set picks per manager (7, 9 or 11), room size (2 or 4 managers), pick order and, if you want it, a substitution limit.
- Share the invite code with your friends and start the snake draft, same clock, same turn order rules as a regular Draft.
- Points accumulate automatically after every match in your selection. Check the leaderboard any time, there's nothing to re-enter between games.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Multi Draft in fantasy cricket?
A season-long fantasy cricket format on CricketDream where you snake-draft a squad once and it scores automatically across every match in a series you select, 2 to 14 matches, or the whole series in Season Long mode, instead of drafting fresh for each game.
How is Multi Draft different from regular Draft?
Draft covers exactly one match and works for any competition, including IPL. Multi Draft covers multiple matches or a full international series, defaults to a bigger squad (11 picks instead of 5), defaults Captain/Vice-Captain off instead of on, and allows configurable mid-series substitutions that Draft has no use for.
Can I play Multi Draft for IPL?
No. Multi Draft is scoped to international cricket, T20I, ODI and Test series and tournaments. For IPL, use regular Draft, which works across any competition on CricketDream.
How many players can join a Multi Draft room?
Two or four, the same as regular Draft. The room creator sets this when creating the game.
What happens if I substitute a player in Multi Draft?
The player you sub out keeps every point they already earned for you, nothing is lost retroactively. The player you sub in starts scoring from the next match onward. Substitutions are only available if the room creator enabled them (off by default).
What is Season Long mode?
A Multi Draft variant that automatically selects every eligible match in an international series for you, instead of ticking matches individually. Draft once and your squad scores through the entire tournament.
Is Multi Draft free?
Yes, free to create, free to join, no entry fee and no prize pool, the same as every game on CricketDream.
Ready to draft for the long haul? Start a Multi Draft and pick a squad built to last the series.
Start Multi Draft →