How It Works
Everything you need to know about building, managing, and dominating your fantasy cricket league.
1. Join or Create a League
DraftMates is built around private leagues. You can either create your own league and invite friends, or join an existing league using an invite code.
- League Size: Most leagues run optimally with 4 to 8 teams to ensure everyone gets a competitive squad from the draft pool.
- Isolated Environments: Every league has its own separate player pool. A player can only be owned by one team per league.
- Commissioner Controls: The league creator (Commissioner) manages the settings, auction schedule, and can override trades if necessary.
2. The Live Auction
The core of DraftMates is the live auction. Gather your friends on auction night and bid for players to build your squad in real-time.
- Virtual Purse: Each team starts with a fixed budget (usually ₹150 Crores) to build their squad.
- Live Bidding: Players are presented one by one. Teams place bids against a 10-second shot clock.
- Squad Requirements: You must meet specific limits (e.g., max 8 overseas players, min 3 uncapped players) while staying within your budget.
- Unsold Pool: Players who don't receive bids go into the unsold pool and can be signed later to fill out your squad.
3. Setting Your Lineup
Before each matchweek, you must select your starting Playing XI from your squad.
- Matchweek Deadlines: Lineups lock exactly when the first match of the gameweek begins.
- Captain & Vice-Captain: Select a Captain (earns 2x points) and Vice-Captain (earns 1.5x points). Choose wisely!
- Role Balance: Your starting XI doesn't have strict position quotas, but you need a balanced team to maximize points across all categories.
Benched Players
Players left on your bench do not earn any fantasy points for that matchweek, regardless of their real-life performance.
4. Real-Time Scoring
As real cricket matches happen, your fantasy players earn points based on their actions on the field.
- Live Updates: Points are calculated and updated live during the game.
- Comprehensive System: Our scoring system rewards all contributions including strike rate bonuses, economy rate points, catches, and run-outs.
- Standings: The league standings instantly update, showing exactly how many points you're gaining against your rivals.
5. Deep Analytics
Use our built-in analytics dashboards to monitor player form, track venue trends, and identify undervalued players in the market.
- Player Stats: Detailed historical and current season metrics.
- Matchup Analysis: See how your batters historically perform against the upcoming opponent's specific bowler types.
- Matchweek Breakdowns: Detailed receipts of exactly how each of your players earned their points.