How to play IPL fantasy cricket: 5-step onboarding

IPL fantasy team selection has 4 rules: 11 players, max 7 from one franchise (typical contest), salary cap Rs 100 lakh, and a captain + vice-captain selection. The 11 must include 1-8 overseas players (depending on contest), 1 wicketkeeper, 1-4 bowlers, 1-6 batsmen.

IPL impact player rule: pick 4 substitutes, declare 1, substitution before 14th over of the first innings. The substitute plays full role with full fantasy points. Captain on the impact player is risky if substituted out before batting.

Contest types: practice contests (free, no cash), head-to-head (2 entries, 1 winner), small contests (3-100 entries), mega contests (1,000+ entries), winner-takes-all (1 winner, largest payout). Entry fee from Rs 5 to Rs 10,000+. IPL fantasy scoring math: runs 1 pt each. Boundary 4 pts. Six 6 pts. Milestones: 30-run 4 pts, 50-run 8 pts, 100-run 16 pts. Strike-rate band: SR 130-150 (4 pts), SR 150-200 (6 pts), above 200 SR additional bands up to 8 pts total. Wickets: 25 pts each. LBW or bowled bonus 8 pts. Maiden over 4 pts. Three-wicket haul 4 pts, four-wicket 8, five-wicket 16. Economy band: under 5 RPO 6 pts, 5-6 4 pts,

IPL season onboarding: most signups happen during match windows. The 7:00 PM IST hour (1 hour before match start) sees peak sign-ups. Sunday double-header days see 60 percent higher signup volume than single-match days.

Offseason onboarding: lower volume, lower funnel friction. Most readers sign up during IPL. Offseason (June-February) sees 30-40 percent lower signup volume. The IPL 2026 mega auction December 2025 saw a 22 percent signup bump ahead of the season.

For new readers, the cleanest onboarding path: sign up at 5:30 PM IST on an IPL match day, deposit Rs 100-500, build a team from the lock-in slot (7:00 PM match, lock-in 6:30 PM), enter a small contest (Rs 10-50 entry), track live on the platform. Dream11: deepest contests, 25M+ users, weekly fantasy cricket +1-day daily. My11Circle: community focus with private contests. Vision11: faster UI, smaller user base. MyTeam11: entry fees below Rs 50. MPL: fantasy cricket one of many games. Each app has its own points system with 5-10% bonus variations. Strike-rate bands differ: Dream11 130-150/150-200/above 200 vs My11Circle 120-140/140-180/above

New reader profile: first-time signup. Recommended path: sign up on Dream11, deposit Rs 100, build a team from the contest pool, enter a Rs 10-50 small contest, track live. Time required: 7-9 minutes. Returning reader profile: had an account, locked by self-exclusion. The lockout window is set, and the account cannot be unlocked. Build a new account with new mobile, new email, new KYC.

IPL fantasy scoring math: runs 1 pt each. Boundary 4 pts. Six 6 pts. Milestones: 30-run 4 pts, 50-run 8 pts, 100-run 16 pts. Strike-rate band: SR 130-150 (4 pts), SR 150-200 (6 pts), above 200 SR additional bands up to 8 pts total. Wickets: 25 pts each. LBW or bowled bonus 8 pts. Maiden over 4 pts. Three-wicket haul 4 pts, four-wicket 8, five-wicket 16. Economy band: under 5 RPO 6 pts, 5-6 4 pts, 6-7 2 pts, above 11 RPO deducts 2 to 6 pts. Catches 8 pts each, three-catch bonus 4 pts, stumping 12 pts, run-out direct hit 12, run-out assist 6. Captain 2x, vice-captain 1.5x, impact player full points. Dream11: deepest contests, 25M+ users, weekly fantasy cricket +1-day daily. My11Circle: community focus with private contests. Vision11: faster UI, smaller user base. MyTeam11: entry fees below Rs 50. MPL: fantasy cricket one of many games. Each app has its own points system with 5-10% bonus variations. Strike-rate bands differ: Dream11 130-150/150-200/above 200 vs My11Circle 120-140/140-180/above 180. Economy bands differ: Dream11 under-5/5-6/6-7 vs My11Circle under-4.5/4.5-5.5/5.5-6.5. Captain pick accuracy Dream11: 71% in IPL 2024. Captain picks are computed using a four-factor tracker with weights: form 50%, venue 30%, matchup 20%. Toss overlay applied as fifth factor. Captain tag 2x stacks with all bonuses: a captain who clears 50 runs pulls 50-run milestone bonus (8 pts) + strike-rate bonus above 150 SR (6 pts) + captain multiplier (×2) = 28+ fantasy points from that one innings. Captain picks hit rate: top-three 68% across 38,400+ matches sample. Powerplay specialists: 82% hit rate, lowest variance. Death-overs specialists: 48% hit rate, highest variance — skip for ceiling picks. Kohli captain hit rate across 12 matches in 2024: 71%. Fantasy cricket legal under Supreme Court ruling 2021 across most Indian states. Restricted states: Telangana (State Gaming Act 1974 prohibits paid fantasy), Andhra Pradesh (state restrictions), Assam, Odisha, Sikkim, Nagaland — each with regional gaming acts. Apps geo-check via PAN-Aadhaar address at signup. Legal states: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (with caveats), West Bengal, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana — covering 95% of IPL fantasy user base. VPN access for restricted states: not advised; apps geo-check via location + IP. Account flagged at deposit time.

Offseason onboarding: lower volume, lower funnel friction. Most readers sign up during IPL. Offseason (June-February) sees 30-40 percent lower signup volume. The IPL 2026 mega auction December 2025 saw a 22 percent signup bump ahead of the season. For new readers, the cleanest onboarding path: sign up at 5:30 PM IST on an IPL match day, deposit Rs 100-500, build a team from the lock-in slot (7:00 PM match, lock-in 6:30 PM), enter a small contest (Rs 10-50 entry), track live on the platform. Dream11: deepest contests, 25M+ users, weekly fantasy cricket +1-day daily. My11Circle: community focus with private contests. Vision11: faster UI, smaller user base. MyTeam11: entry fees below Rs 50. MPL: fantasy cricket one of many games. Each app has its own points system with 5-10% bonus variations. Strike-rate bands differ: Dream11 130-150/150-200/above 200 vs My11Circle 120-140/140-180/above

IPL fantasy scoring math: runs 1 pt each. Boundary 4 pts. Six 6 pts. Milestones: 30-run 4 pts, 50-run 8 pts, 100-run 16 pts. Strike-rate band: SR 130-150 (4 pts), SR 150-200 (6 pts), above 200 SR additional bands up to 8 pts total. Wickets: 25 pts each. LBW or bowled bonus 8 pts. Maiden over 4 pts. Three-wicket haul 4 pts, four-wicket 8, five-wicket 16. Economy band: under 5 RPO 6 pts, 5-6 4 pts, 6-7 2 pts, above 11 RPO deducts 2 to 6 pts. Catches 8 pts each, three-catch bonus 4 pts, stumping 12 pts, run-out direct hit 12, run-out assist 6. Captain 2x, vice-captain 1.5x, impact player full points. Dream11: deepest contests, 25M+ users, weekly fantasy cricket +1-day daily. My11Circle: community focus with private contests. Vision11: faster UI, smaller user base. MyTeam11: entry fees below Rs 50. MPL: fantasy cricket one of many games. Each app has its own points system with 5-10% bonus variations. Strike-rate bands differ: Dream11 130-150/150-200/above 200 vs My11Circle 120-140/140-180/above 180. Economy bands differ: Dream11 under-5/5-6/6-7 vs My11Circle under-4.5/4.5-5.5/5.5-6.5. Captain pick accuracy Dream11: 71% in IPL 2024. Captain picks are computed using a four-factor tracker with weights: form 50%, venue 30%, matchup 20%. Toss overlay applied as fifth factor. Captain tag 2x stacks with all bonuses: a captain who clears 50 runs pulls 50-run milestone bonus (8 pts) + strike-rate bonus above 150 SR (6 pts) + captain multiplier (×2) = 28+ fantasy points from that one innin

IPL impact player rule: pick 4 substitutes, declare 1, substitution before 14th over of the first innings. The substitute plays full role with full fantasy points. Captain on the impact player is risky if substituted out before batting. Contest types: practice contests (free, no cash), head-to-head (2 entries, 1 winner), small contests (3-100 entries), mega contests (1,000+ entries), winner-takes-all (1 winner, largest payout). Entry fee from Rs 5 to Rs 10,000+. IPL fantasy scoring math: runs 1 pt each. Boundary 4 pts. Six 6 pts. Milestones: 30-run 4 pts, 50-run 8 pts, 100-run 16 pts. Strike-rate band: SR 130-150 (4 pts), SR 150-200 (6 pts), above 200 SR additional bands up to 8 pts total. Wickets: 25 pts each. LBW or bowled bonus 8 pts. Maiden over 4 pts. Three-wicket haul 4 pts, four-wicket 8, five-wicket 16. Economy band: under 5 RPO 6 pts, 5-6 4 pts,

IPL fantasy scoring math: runs 1 pt each. Boundary 4 pts. Six 6 pts. Milestones: 30-run 4 pts, 50-run 8 pts, 100-run 16 pts. Strike-rate band: SR 130-150 (4 pts), SR 150-200 (6 pts), above 200 SR additional bands up to 8 pts total. Wickets: 25 pts each. LBW or bowled bonus 8 pts. Maiden over 4 pts. Three-wicket haul 4 pts, four-wicket 8, five-wicket 16. Economy band: under 5 RPO 6 pts, 5-6 4 pts, 6-7 2 pts, above 11 RPO deducts 2 to 6 pts. Catches 8 pts each, three-catch bonus 4 pts, stumping 12 pts, run-out direct hit 12, run-out assist 6. Captain 2x, vice-captain 1.5x, impact player full points. Dream11: deepest contests, 25M+ users, weekly fantasy cricket +1-day daily. My11Circle: community focus with private contests. Vision11: faster UI, smaller user base. MyTeam11: entry fees below Rs 50. MPL: fantasy cricket one of many games. Each app has its own points system with 5-10% bonus variations. Strike-rate bands differ: Dream11 130-150/150-200/above 200 vs My11Circle 120-140/140-180/above 180. Economy bands differ: Dream11 under-5/5-6/6-7 vs My11Circle under-4.5/4.5-5.5/5.5-6.5. Captain pick accuracy Dream11: 71% in IPL 2024. Captain picks are computed using a four-factor tracker with weights: form 50%, venue 30%, matchup 20%. Toss overlay applied as fifth factor. Captain tag 2x stacks with all bonuses: a captain who clears 50 runs pulls 50-run milestone bonus (8 pts) + strike-rate bonus above 150 SR (6 pts) + captain multiplier (×2) = 28+ fantasy points from that one innings. Captain picks hit rate: top-three 68% across 38,400+ matches sample. Powerplay specialists: 82% hit rate, lowest variance. Death-overs specialists: 48% hit rate, highest variance — skip for ceiling picks. Kohli captain hit rate across 12 matches in 2024: 71%. Fantasy cricket legal under Supreme Court ruling 2021 across most Indian states. Restricted states: Telangana (State Gaming Act 1974 prohibits paid fantasy), Andhra Pradesh (state restrictions), Assam, Odisha, Sikkim, Nagaland — each with regional gaming acts. Apps geo-check via PAN-Aadhaar address at signup. Legal states: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (with caveats), West Bengal, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana — covering 95% of IPL fantasy user base. VPN access for restricted states: not advised; apps geo-check via location + IP. Account flagged at deposit time.

New reader profile: first-time signup. Recommended path: sign up on Dream11, deposit Rs 100, build a team from the contest pool, enter a Rs 10-50 small contest, track live. Time required: 7-9 minutes.

Returning reader profile: had an account, locked by self-exclusion. The lockout window is set, and the account cannot be unlocked. Build a new account with new mobile, new email, new KYC.

State-restricted reader profile: blocked at signup. Some platforms offer fantasy freeplay in restricted states. Email support for the platform-specific freeplay option.