The ten franchises on the IPL map.

The fantasy-cricket XI is built from real players, but the role those players occupy is decided by the franchise. A finger-spinner on a grip-favouring track is a different selection than the same spinner on a flat deck; the franchise that plays him at home, away from home, or only on certain surfaces is part of the captaincy calculus.

The desk reads the franchise as a constraint on the player’s role. A clear role means a stable floor; an unclear role means a higher-variance selection. The team pages on this hub are the working reference for that read.

The desk reads a franchise the way a working journalist would profile one: home ground, squad shape, the role they look for in fantasy selection, and the question the auction left unanswered. We do not publish career retrospectives; we publish what a fantasy user needs to know about a franchise before the next slate.

The five questions we ask about every franchise:

1. What does the home ground reward? Spinners, pace, or batters? The franchise’s identity usually follows the surface.
2. What does the squad shape look like? One star player, a balanced XI, or a young roster in transition?
3. Who is the franchise’s captaincy default? The player the franchise turns to when the match is on the line.
4. What is the franchise’s impact-player habit? Do they substitute the spinner, the pacer, or the extra batter?
5. What is the question the auction left unanswered? The desk names it. “We don’t know whether the franchise will use the new signing at four.”