Fresh from the IPL action, cricket fans can look forward to the World Twenty20 tournament which kicks off this week on Friday 5 June. India are the reigning champs having won the first edition in South Africa when MS Dhoni led his team to victory in a thrilling finale against arch rivals Pakistan. This year’s tournament takes place in England with Twenty20 cricket establishing itself as a hugely popular form of the game especially amongst the fans.

Standard Bank invites you to join in the fun with the launch of our T20 World Cup fantasy league. This is your opportunity to test your cricket skills by managing your own team of global superstars through the two week tournament. The World Twenty20 Dream Teams is now open – enter your team at www.superdreamteams.com/cricket

After the hype of the IPL it’s now nation vs. nation with all the top teams keen to claim the world title. Can India win back-to-back world cups or will England rise to the challenge on their home turf? Australia and South Africa also have a point to prove and will fancy their chances in the English conditions, and you can’t rule out Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

The key to success in the World Twenty20 Dream Teams is how you select and manage your team. You can only pick a maximum of 3 players per team in the group stages so you need to spread your selections amongst the top teams that will progress to the knockout rounds. You can make up to 5 transfers before the start of each new round in order to improve your team. It’s important to bear in mind that you are limited to a maximum of 20 transfers throughout the tournament so you don’t want to use them up too quickly.

Fantasy managers should look out for the in form players who can perform with both bat and ball. Your batsmen should be those who bat high up the order and can score at a fast run rate. Look out for bowlers who are economical and take plenty of wickets. A good option is always a batsman who is able to bowl a few overs without being a recognised all-rounder. JP Duminy and Yuvraj Singh are good examples here. Choosing your captain is critical as he scores double points, so all-rounders and wicketkeepers are always popular choices.

The recent IPL tournament is a good indicator of which Twenty20 players are on form with South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis performing well along with Albie Morkel, AB de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs. Keep an eye on newcomers Roelof van der Merwe and Yusuf Abdulla who also had a good tournament. For the Aussies, new opener David Warner is an explosive talent with Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Bracken all consistent performers.

With India, you are spoilt for choice with RP Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan and Virender Sehwag all top Twenty20 players. New Zealand has Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori while Sri Lanka boasts the talents of Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan. And let’s not forget about the other big name players who could feature prominently like Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kevin Pietersen, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi.

It’s going to be an action packed tournament so don’t delay. Enter your team now at www.superdreamteams.com/cricket