Sixer all-rounders · the role that wins contests at every venue

What the all-rounders hub covers

The all-rounders hub is the desk's reading on the single role that wins contests at every venue. An all-rounder in a fantasy cricket squad contributes both batting points and bowling points, which means the 1.0x multiplier on the all-rounder's slot is applied to a points total that has two sources. A frontline bowler at ₹ 8.5 L who takes 2 wickets for 50 bowling points contributes 50 weighted points at a per-point cost of ₹ 0.17. A bowling all-rounder at ₹ 9.5 L who takes 2 wickets and scores 25 runs contributes 50 bowling points + 25 batting points + 4 boundary bonuses = 79 weighted points at a per-point cost of ₹ 0.12. The all-rounder's points floor is materially higher than the frontline bowler's, which is why the desk treats the all-rounder slot as the most important non-captain decision in any fantasy squad.

How the desk picks an all-rounder

The desk picks an all-rounder using the same three signals as the captain pick: the venue's six-hitting map (the all-rounder's batting role), the venue's bowling conditions (the all-rounder's bowling role) and the likely batting position (the all-rounder's expected balls faced). The desk then weights the all-rounder's batting points and bowling points by the contest format. In T20 contests, the bowling points and the death-overs batting points compound; in ODI contests, the batting points and the middle-overs bowling points compound; in Test contests, the long-spell bowling points and the lower-order batting points compound. The desk's all-rounder ledger publishes a separate expected-points reading for each format.

Why all-rounders win contests

All-rounders win contests because they compound two point sources under a single 1.0x multiplier. A squad with three all-rounders (a seam-bowling all-rounder at No. 5, a spin-bowling all-rounder at No. 7 and a part-time off-spin all-rounder at No. 8) carries three bowling point sources and three batting point sources. A squad with three frontline bowlers and three frontline batters carries three bowling sources and three batting sources but the batting and bowling sources do not overlap. The all-rounder-heavy squad compounds the captain multiplier's contribution because the captain is more often an all-rounder than a pure batter or pure bowler.

The desk's second rule of all-rounder arithmetic is the role ceiling. An all-rounder who bowls four overs in a T20 contest cannot take more than four wickets, so the bowling points ceiling is lower than a frontline bowler's. The desk uses a four-over ceiling when scoring a T20 all-rounder's expected bowling points and an eight-over ceiling for an ODI all-rounder. All-rounders who bowl their full allocation are worth more than all-rounders who are rested for a non-bowling role; the desk reads the franchise's rotation policy before locking the all-rounder slot.

Three all-rounder profiles the desk tracks

Profile one: the seam-bowling all-rounder at a batting-friendly venue (Wankhede, M. Chinnaswamy). Expected points: 35 batting (including a six bonus and a strike-rate bonus) + 40 bowling (1.5 wickets at 25 each + 1 maiden over at 4) = 75 points. Per-point cost ₹ 0.13 at ₹ 9.5 L. Profile two: the spin-bowling all-rounder at a turning venue (Chepauk, Narendra Modi). Expected points: 22 batting + 48 bowling (2 wickets at 25 each + 8 LBW bonus + 1 maiden at 4) = 70 points. Per-point cost ₹ 0.14 at ₹ 9.5 L. Profile three: the part-time off-spin all-rounder at a balanced venue (Eden Gardens, Arun Jaitley). Expected points: 28 batting + 18 bowling (0.7 wickets at 25 + 1 catch at 8) = 46 points. Per-point cost ₹ 0.22 at ₹ 10 L.

All-rounder reading checklist

• Confirm the player's role: seam, spin or part-time.
• Check the player's expected overs at the venue (4 in T20, 8 in ODI).
• Read the player's last five innings at the venue, not the career profile.
• Compute the all-rounder's batting points and bowling points separately.
• Check the player's salary as a percentage of the squad cap (under 11 percent is the desk's rule).
• Cross-check the franchise's rotation policy before locking the slot.

Common all-rounder reading mistakes

The desk's most common all-rounder reading mistakes: picking an all-rounder based on career profile without reading the venue (a seam-bowling all-rounder at Chepauk is not the same player as at Wankhede), ignoring the bowling-points ceiling (a T20 all-rounder who bowls four overs cannot take more than four wickets), trusting the operator's role tag without reading the rotation policy (a tagged all-rounder can be rested for a non-bowling role), and balancing the squad with three all-rounders at the cost of a frontline bowler (the frontline bowler's points ceiling is higher than an all-rounder's bowling ceiling). The desk recommends one to two all-rounders in a T20 squad and two to three in an ODI squad.

Related reading

Read the captain picks page for the 2.0x multiplier arithmetic that often lands on an all-rounder, the salary cap page for the per-point cost walkthrough, and the desk's longform guide on all-rounder selection for the role-by-role arithmetic.