Sixer salary cap · per-fantasy-point cost walkthrough for every contest
The desk reads the salary cap as a per-fantasy-point budget. The hub publishes the arithmetic that turns the operator's salary list into a squad per-point cost and walks through three worked XI examples across formats.
What the salary cap hub covers
The salary cap hub is the desk's reading on the operator's ₹ 100 lakh (or equivalent) cap and how to allocate that cap across an eleven-player fantasy squad. The hub walks through the per-fantasy-point cost arithmetic, the captain and vice-captain multiplier weight, the role-weighted salary distribution and the desk's three arithmetic rules for a balanced XI. The hub does not publish contest-specific salary lists (those are the operator's job); the hub publishes the arithmetic the reader uses to read any contest-specific salary list.
How the desk reads the salary cap
The desk reads the salary cap as a per-fantasy-point budget. The total cap is divided by the squad's expected fantasy points to produce a per-point cost; a lower per-point cost means the squad has spent less for the same expected return. The desk's three rules of thumb: do not pick a captain who costs more than 14 percent of the squad cap; do not pick a vice-captain who costs more than 11 percent of the squad cap; aim for a per-fantasy-point cost below ₹ 0.22 for a balanced XI.
The desk computes the per-fantasy-point cost by adding the captain's expected points at 2.0x, the vice-captain's expected points at 1.5x and the remaining nine players' expected points at 1.0x. The captain's salary and vice-captain's salary are weighted by the same multipliers. The total weighted salary divided by the total weighted points is the per-fantasy-point cost. A squad whose captain costs 14 percent of the cap and delivers 70 points at 2.0x contributes 140 weighted points at ₹ 14 of weighted salary, for a per-point cost of ₹ 0.10 from the captain slot alone. The remaining nine players need to average a per-point cost of ₹ 0.12 to bring the squad average below ₹ 0.22.
Why the salary cap arithmetic matters
A fantasy contest squad can have the strongest eleven players on paper and still finish outside the leaderboard if the salary cap arithmetic is wrong. A heavy-captain squad (one captain at 17 percent of the cap) compresses the budget for the remaining ten players and forces the reader to fill the XI with low-salary bench players. The per-point cost of those bench players is high (typically ₹ 0.30 to ₹ 0.40 per point), which drags the squad average above ₹ 0.25 and reduces expected leaderboard position. The arithmetic is therefore not just a budgeting exercise; it is a leaderboard-position exercise.
Three salary arithmetic walkthroughs
Walkthrough one: a balanced XI at Wankhede, T20, night match. Captain at ₹ 11.5 L (11.5 percent of cap), vice-captain at ₹ 10 L (10 percent), remaining nine at ₹ 65.9 L (65.9 percent). Expected weighted points: 140 (captain at 2.0x) + 90 (vice-captain at 1.5x) + 290 (remaining nine at 1.0x) = 520 weighted points. Total weighted salary: ₹ 87.4 L. Per-point cost: ₹ 0.168. Walkthrough two: a heavy-captain XI at Chepauk, T20, day match. Captain at ₹ 14.5 L (14.5 percent), vice-captain at ₹ 9.5 L (9.5 percent), remaining nine at ₹ 64.5 L (64.5 percent). Expected weighted points: 148 + 85 + 270 = 503 weighted points. Per-point cost: ₹ 0.176. Walkthrough three: a differential XI at Eden Gardens, T20, night match. Captain at ₹ 9 L (9 percent), vice-captain at ₹ 8 L (8 percent), remaining nine at ₹ 70 L (70 percent, weighted toward differentials). Expected weighted points: 120 + 72 + 280 = 472 weighted points. Per-point cost: ₹ 0.185.
Salary cap reading checklist
- Read the operator's salary cap and points table before locking the XI.
- Compute the captain's salary as a percentage of the squad cap (under 14 percent).
- Compute the vice-captain's salary as a percentage of the squad cap (under 11 percent).
- Compute the squad's per-fantasy-point cost (below ₹ 0.22 for a balanced XI).
- Check the role-weighted salary distribution (no more than 35 percent on top order).
- Lock the team 15 minutes before the toss and check the official playing XI.
Common salary cap mistakes
The desk's most common salary cap mistakes: chasing the most expensive player on the list without reading the per-point cost (the most expensive player is rarely the highest per-point return), balancing the XI with all-rounders and ignoring the bowling-points budget (an all-rounder costs more than a frontline bowler but contributes both batting and bowling points, so the trade-off is not symmetric), filling the XI with low-salary differentials who have a low expected-points floor (a differential is a player who can outperform expected points, not a player with no expected points), and ignoring the impact-player substitution rule (the substituted player's points count, the replaced player's do not, so the salary arithmetic needs to be run twice for the bench).
Related reading
Read the captain picks page for the 2.0x multiplier arithmetic that compounds with the salary cap, the points system page for the operator's published tables, and the desk's longform guide on salary cap design for the per-point cost walkthrough across formats.
Salary cap · FAQ
Is the salary cap the same across operators?
No. Most Indian fantasy operators use a ₹ 100 lakh cap, but the captain and vice-captain multiplier, the role-weighted salary distribution and the impact-player substitution rule vary. The desk reads the operator's published salary rules before every contest window.
What is a balanced XI's per-point cost?
The desk treats any squad below ₹ 0.22 per fantasy point as balanced, ₹ 0.22 to ₹ 0.25 as heavy and above ₹ 0.25 as salary-heavy. The desk recommends aiming for ₹ 0.18 or lower for a leaderboard-position XI.
Should the captain cost more than 14 percent of the cap?
The desk's rule of thumb is under 14 percent. A captain who costs 17 percent compresses the budget for the remaining ten players and forces a low-salary bench. The desk recommends running the per-point cost before locking the captain.
How does the impact player rule affect salary arithmetic?
The impact-player slot substitutes one player from your squad at the toss. The desk recommends running the salary arithmetic twice: once for the starting XI and once for the most likely substitution. The substituted player should be a like-for-like swap (an all-rounder for an all-rounder, a fast bowler for a fast bowler).