Fantasy cricket provides you with an opportunity to share your passion for the game with millions of others by showcasing your expertise. Given that cricket is more than just a game in India, it has experienced tremendous growth. A player who has built their own fantasy squad for an online fantasy cricket league is intensely involved in every play that is made on the pitch. Everything has a significant influence on the users who choose their dream teams, from their team's performance to the on-field struggles of their players. The popularity of online cricket games has increased, and by downloading My11Circle fantasy app and creating fantasy teams, more and more individuals are improving their cricket knowledge and abilities on their smartphones.

However, the first steps on the road to success, particularly in endeavors where you invest money, are sound strategy and planning. No matter whether you're investing in the actual world or a digital one, having a plan is crucial. A well-thought-out strategy of knowing which captain and vice-captain to choose can boost your likelihood of winning big. So in this article, we will discuss the best ways to pick the right captain and vice-captain for your fantasy squad.

Here are tips that will assist you in selecting an excellent captain and vice-captain for your dream team:

• Best Captain And Vice-Captain For Small Leagues

In a minor league, all-rounders are often the ideal choices for this Captain and Vice-Captain, but we need to consider the match conditions for the same. The ideal option for the skipper and vice-captain is an all-rounder who has enough opportunities to bat and bowl his allotted number of overs. He can leave his impact in any section and help you score big.

For example, Hardik Pandya, captain of the Gujarat Titans, is an offensive all-rounder. He's also a very good, wicket-taking bowler. Sam Curran of the Punjab Kings, Ravindra Jadeja of the Chennai Super Kings, Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, and other such players are solid picks for captaincy since they are expected to score well.

An all-rounder with a strong batting average who bats later in the order and has a useful bowling spell might also be a suitable choice for the fantasy cricket squad. Top-order batsmen who routinely play well and are considered stars are also excellent candidates for captaincy. Like David Warner, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, and others who have the ability to lead an inning and score plenty of runs in the majority of games. Additionally, in most head-to-head leagues, these players serve as captain or vice-captain for the opposing team. It cannot, therefore, be avoided.

• Best Captain And Vice-Captain For Major Leagues

Players like Rohit Sharma, Aaron Finch, Jason Roy, Devon Conway, Quinton De Kock, etc., who bat at the top of the order, can put together massive innings if they're in form. However, they do not perform well on a consistent basis and can be a player who is either successful or unsuccessful. Selecting them requires taking into account factors like opponent bowlers and early swing.

For instance, Rohit Sharma has difficulty facing inswinging deliveries. Therefore, careful consideration must be given before selecting them as the captain or vice-captain. In big leagues, these are a must-try and could bring you huge rewards. Additionally, there are a few batsmen like Joe Root, Rovman Powell, Shreyas Iyer, and Soumya Sarkar who can bowl when needed but don't bowl frequently. They are also a good option for vice-captain.

Some bowlers, like Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Mitchell Starc, have the ability to completely alter the outcome of a game. If the circumstances are favorable, they could make an excellent candidate for the captaincy. Additionally, few bowlers have a strong track record against a specific side and can capitalize on their weaknesses. For instance, the Indian spin combo of Chahal and Kuldeep proved difficult for foreign sides like New Zealand to handle and amassed a large number of wickets versus them.

A fantasy team's captain and vice-captain need to be combined in the best way possible. It's not wise to choose a Captain and Vice Captain who are going to be beaten by one another. Therefore, in one-on-one competitions or Small Leagues, it is better to select an all-rounder or star batsman as captain and vice-captain because most of the opposition will sign up with the same captain. Grand Leagues, however, allow you to experiment with alternative captain and vice-captain pairings. In the end, the best captain and vice-captain would be the one that pushes your team over the top of the hundreds of competitors and make you a champion.

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ABP News celebrated Modicare’s silver jubilee featuring glorious and inspiring stories of Modicarians  and the brand’s journey over the past 25 years. Modicare is one of the most successful and rapidly growing brands in India. The show, named ‘Modicare - 25 Saal Bemisaal - Living the Modi way!’, was aired on ABP News, ABP Ganga and ABP Majha highlighting the significant landmark. Modicare Limited, India's first Direct Selling Company, marked a significant milestone of completing 25 glorious years in the industry in its strong legacy of transforming lives. The special 40-minute episode showcased Modicare’s journey and exemplifying success and lauded the committed team of employees.

The special silver anniversary show highlighted the brand vision of the company and captured the essence of its 25 years of providing ‘Azadi’ to direct sellers to build an environment of trust and care. The interaction-based show showcased the strong legacy of Modicare from its inception in 1996 and its journey to what it is today. The show consisted of four major parts – Profile story/ background intro of Modicare, Interaction with Modicare founder Samir Modi along with success stories of Modicare partners.

The ‘Modicare - 25 Saal Bemisaal - Living the Modi way!’ show was aimed at encouraging and educating the masses to create their own identity, live on their own terms and positively change the lives of people around them. The ‘Modi way’ has given economic freedom to millions and encouraged entrepreneurship around the country.  It has empowered millions of Indians and helped them realise their goals for a better future.

With a strong legacy of #25SaalBemisaal, Modicare emerged as India's leading direct selling company and is changing the lives of millions across the country.

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Elections are the most important events for any news channel as television has been a primary medium for political campaigns and coverage. Making use of this opportunity, ABP Ganga launched a unique show for UP Assembly Elections under the banner of ‘Chunav Kranti Express’. The show was shot entirely on a special train travelling from Lucknow to Varanasi. The powerful experiential show & campaign for ABP Ganga set a new benchmark in the industry, strengthening the channel’s positioning & brand promise. Chunav Kranti Express was the first-of-its-kind show that was launched in the wake of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha elections in the year 2022. The show set the election fever high and saw various leaders of political parties presenting their vision to public through a train journey across the poll-bound state.

Chunav Kranti Express was the first-ever political conclave on a specially customized train running across poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. The show was an innovative and unique concept where political leaders came on board a train journey from Lucknow to Varanasi and had insightful conversations about their plans for UP elections. The special train journey covered the Lucknow – Bacchrawan – Rae Bareilly – Amethi – Pratapgarh – Prayagraj – Janghai – Varanasi route. The show comprised of 10 episodes and was aired daily on ABP Ganga from 9 pm to 10 pm with a repeat telecast the next day from 10 am to 11 am.

As many as 40 prominent guests including SP Singh Baghel, MoS, Govt of India (Ministry of Law & Justice), Kaushal Kishore, MoS, Govt of India (Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs), Rakesh Tikait, National Spokesperson, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Ravi Kishan, MP (BJP) among others were seen participating in the political conclave journey.

The show was set up on a special train with political guests boarding ABP Ganga’s Chunav Kranti Express and getting down at the stations enroute. They were seen answering questions about their plans and vision while traversing the region that they would serve. Chunav Kranti Express show makes it a manifestation of ABP Ganga’s philosophy of ‘Khabar Aapki, Zubaan Aapki’. It emphasizes ABP Ganga’s stronghold in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand market, enhancing the news viewing experience for the public in these states. 

The 'Chunav Kranti Express' show garnered a positive response from viewers due to its innovative and outstanding rollout. When BARC ratings resumed in April, ABP Ganga was named No 1 news channel of Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand.

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Climate change is believed to be the greatest threat to global health. The erratic irregularities in the environment with the shift in temperatures and weather patterns have a significant impact on our health and also on the health of the planet. The environment has always been a topic of great concern. It is today’s children who will go on to become responsible citizens of the future.

To bring this thought alive, ABP News in association with Tata Tea rolled out a campaign to raise awareness about protecting the environment and taking a step forward to make the planet a better place for the generations to come. With ABP News’ wider reach and high urban and rural penetration, the campaign was a great hit leading to higher brand loyalty among viewers.

The main aim of the campaign was to send out a message that climate change is a big threat to human survival, with children, being at the receiving end of it. The special initiative by ABP News & Tata Tea was rolled out on World Environment Day on June 5. It aimed at fostering a concern for the environment with a clear-cut message- ‘Jaago re’ before it is too late. On World Environment Day, ABP News shared impactful stories of children involved in the environmental protection initiatives and their efforts to make the planet greener and better again.

To drive brand engagement, the ‘Jaago Re’ show was aired on ABP News highlighting the need of protecting the environment for a better future. With an aim of creating a sustainable future, the show encouraged parents to help their kids understand the need to preserve the environment today to ensure a better tomorrow. The show instilled a thought in the minds of the kids that small actions can have a big impact, and every individual can make a difference in preserving the planet for generations to come.

The initiative was announced by primetime news shows of ABP News on 3rd June following which viewers were informed about the network’s initiative with Tata Tea emphasizing that it was high time we start protecting the environment.

“The work that is done by ABP News is commendable and we got extremely good results. In the first 5 days got about 2 million views of our creative and the big contribution that was made towards it was done by ABP News in bringing alive the brand messaging”, a top executive from Tata Tea stated.

Consumer care brands often find it difficult to break through the noise and sell their products to the desired audiences. To promote its new product, the ‘Bajaj Almond Drops Hair Serum’, Bajaj Consumer Care was looking to cut through the clutter and reach relevant premium online and offline shoppers across the personal care and hair care categories.

To reach the right set of audience and raise awareness for the launch of their new product, Bajaj Consumer Care, and their media partner, PHD Media, joined hands with Vserv AudiencePro – a customer intelligence and activation platform that helps brands access deterministic audience segments across any channel.

Vserv put its left and right brain to work and delivered an integrated media activation plan for Bajaj Consumer Care by leveraging the power of quality 2P segments like hair and skin shoppers, OTT subscribers, e-commerce transactors and many more from the Vserv AudiencePro platform on multi-channels allowing the brand to find its niche audiences. Powered by Vserv AudiencePro, a quality audience of 12 Mn+, with deterministic audience segments of online buying, offline personal care shoppers, and many others, from the 550 Mn+ AudiencePro segments that were activated across Meta, YouTube, Voot, and Zee5 to provide unduplicated reach across channels.

Not only did the campaign turn out to be a success but over-achieved their targets! With the awareness campaign that targeted haircare shoppers, the campaign achieved an almost 5x click-through rate on Meta. At least 20–30% higher view-through rates were achieved than the planned benchmarks across YouTube, Meta, and OTT channels.

Vinayak Singh, the Digital Head at Bajaj Consumer Products, said, “To generate awareness for our newly launched Bajaj Almond Drops Hair Serum, we wanted to reach a young TG with an affiliation towards Hair Serums. Meta is a platform where a younger TG discovers new products via sponsored posts by brands or influencers and therefore have a higher tendency to check the product online. Our primary focus from the channel was to reach out to audiences who have shopped online for beauty products or have been looking at styling products or premium hair oil ingredients and Vserv helped us to sharpshoot our target audience with its transactional segments.
We were able to layer Meta audiences with Vserv AudiencePro 2P deterministic audience segments across hair and beauty categories, which gave our campaign a heavy boost by delivering almost 5X CTR.”

Commenting on the campaign's results, Monaz Todywalla, CEO of PHD India, said, "At PHD, we're believers in creativity and its many applications - especially when it comes to harnessing data and wielding it to cut through the noise. With the inventive application of customer intelligence, Vserv's collaboration with us sharpened and elevated this campaign's audience targeting, thereby helping our client, Bajaj Consumer Care, achieve great results.”

Saurabh Khanna, Vice-President – LCS & Agency Partnership at Vserv, stated, "We are extremely pleased to have been a part of this highly successful campaign for Bajaj Consumer Care. Our integrated media approach, combined with the power of deterministic audience segments, has proven to be a winning strategy in reaching the right audience and achieving unduplicated reach across multiple channels. This campaign is a great example of how customer intelligence and activation can help brands achieve their marketing goals, and we are proud to have played a key role in its success.”
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Of folk music, it is rightly said that it transcends all borders - be it cultural, linguistic, or geographical. In Red FM’s endeavour to breathe life into the unsung forms of music and cultures, they have introduced another season of ‘Poila Baithak’ to mark the beginning of the Bengali New Year and celebrate its rich relationship with Rabindranath Tagore and Bengal’s baul.

Baul music, developed by a group of mystic minstrels from Bengals, has its own raw and mystic charm. In 2005, the Baul community was declared the ‘Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’ by UNESCO. Unfortunately, due to the lack of support and recognition of Baul artists, the Baul tradition is faltering. However, to infuse life into this dying art form, Red FM is bringing it to the forefront for more people to enjoy the beauty of this rustic, oral form of art through Poila Baithak. Much like the music, the festival aims to transcend boundaries by bringing together baul artists from India and Bangladesh together on one platform on 22nd April 2023 at EZCC. The event will celebrate the Bengali ethos with baul music across espaar and opaar bangla, food, and adda. The event will be hosted by the cities' most beloved voices RJ Nilam and RJ Niel.

Eternalizing the very spirit of the Bengali New Year, Red FM’s Poila Baithak emulates the ethnic Bangladeshi decor as the new year celebrations pop open. The earlier editions of Poila Baithak have witnessed incredible baul artists like Kartik Das Baul, Tirtha Bhattacharya, Folk Diaryz, Poushali Banerjee, Fakira, and many more. The simple, heartfelt lyrics, and use of earthly metaphors which largely point towards essential life truths, have left imprints on the likes of Rabindranath Tagore himself, whose writing and songs hold a whiff of Baul gaan as well.

Nisha Narayanan, Director & COO, RED FM, and Magic FM, said, “The festival is a consistent promise by Red FM to create regional experiences that are more visible, and distinguished on a larger platform.” So, with the grounds abuzz with melodies of the baul minstrels, laughter, and food, the festival aims to give the cause of baul and celebration of the new year a larger-than-life stage.

Celebrating the roots baul music has in Bengal’s rural culture and celebrating celestial love, along with the Bengali new year, Red FM is all set to explore variations in Baul music. With the theme ‘Baul Beyond Borders,’ Bangladeshi artists such as Joler Gaan (An independent folk band from Dhaka roughly translates into a water song, claim to be the children of the soil where the river purifies. They whisper the symphonies of the genre in soft and soothing voices), and Bengali artists including Karthika Das Baul (Also known as ‘The New Generation Baul’ he is a renowned Baul singer who has worked with various world music organizations in Japan, Berlin, and the US), and Fakira (The musical band consists of Timir Biswas, Bunty, Kunaal Biswas, Chayan Chakraborty, and Apurba Das. The band is inspired from various baul akhras, and blended with elements of rock). All the artists will enliven the event with their soulful performances. The event will also offer an experience zone including the best of mixed cuisines, handicrafts, folk art, and fashion stalls including nail art and mehendi, and much more.

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Ritu Mittal, Head – Marketing and Digital, Bayer Consumer Health India talks about Bayer Health’s journey over the years, its innovative marketing strategies for reaching out to the masses and the media mix used to increase the brand’s visibility.

Can you shed some light on your brand journey and how it has shaped over the years? Also, what innovative marketing strategies do you use to reach out to the masses?

In May 2021, Bayer launched its consumer health division with the aim of democratizing access to healthcare for 1.4 billion Indian consumers. The division began by restaging flagship brands Saridon and Supradyn, making them more relevant to young Indians through contemporary packaging and insight-led campaigns. Using a digital-first approach to marketing, we leveraged cohort-based targeting and AI-based gamified solutions to drive brand awareness and trial. This has resulted in numerous awards and positive consumer feedback. The restaging of Saridon with the campaign 'Sar Dard Chupao Nahi, Mitao’ has led to consistent brand growth for almost two years. The brand's first-ever line extension, Saridon Advance, launched almost a year ago, has also shown promising results.

A 2021 Nutrition Survey commissioned by Bayer revealed that daily diets can only provide up to 70% of key nutrients. In response, we encouraged consumers to complement their diets with Supradyn Daily. This led to consistent share growth for us. We also received feedback from our consumers that they want Supradyn with natural ingredients. And so, we developed a unique nature + science proposition and launched Supradyn Immuno+ containing Tulsi + Haldi to give 100% immunity confidence.

A 2022 skin survey commissioned by Bayer showed that 50% of young women suffering from skin fungal infections still chose to use ineffective solutions like talcum powder. In response, we relaunched the world's number one antifungal brand, Canesten, in India with a fresh, quirky campaign targeting young Indian women and encouraging them to use the right solution for treating rashes instead of using talcum powder. The brand's encouraging start last summer is poised to continue into the upcoming summer season.

Across all campaigns, our approach has been to use innovative ways to connect with consumers. These include, AI-based smile detection, gamification for Saridon, and partnership with Terribly Tiny Tales for connecting via storytelling formats with young Indians suffering from stress and pain. We also ran weather-based targeting for Canesten, and influencer-led campaigns for Supradyn.

Which mediums do you use to increase your brand visibility and why? Can you elaborate on how you allocate your marketing budget across various platforms?

At Bayer Health, we have a digital-first mind-set which recognises the importance of using digital channels to reach and engage with our consumers. By adopting an omnichannel approach, we are able to provide a seamless experience for our consumers across all touchpoints, whether online or offline. While traditional channels like TV enable mass reach, digital channels have provided us with more targeted and efficient ways to engage with our consumers. By leveraging data analytics we have been able to tailor our messaging and sampling to specific audiences, driving greater engagement and conversion rates as a result. Talking of social media in particular, it was proven to be a powerful tool in driving engagement and business for us. We created compelling content to engage with our consumers directly, which has kind of fostered deeper connections with our audience. It has also helped us in building a community around our brands.

In addition to creating a seamless customer experience with a mix of TV, digital and other mediums, it's very important to also recognize the importance of physical stores as a key touch point for consumers. To this end, we have transformed the way our brands are presented in stores, ensuring that they are prominently displayed and easy to find.

TV news is a very popular medium of communication due to its reach and loyal viewers. Do you think brands should advertise more on TV as compared to other media platforms?

Despite the progression of digital media channels, television remains a highly effective and efficient medium for brands to reach their target consumers, especially when aiming for a large-scale audience. With its wide availability and popularity, television advertising can provide significant mass reach, enabling brands to connect with a diverse range of viewers across various demographics and geographic locations.

I think brands do not have a choice to isolate themselves. And it's not a very simple answer because there is no one universal solution. The media choices that a brand makes will depend on the objective and the kind of consumer, which is different for each brand. Hence, there is no single, universal response for brands. We have a highly effective mechanism in place for everything related to TV and it is designed to ensure efficient reach and engagement with target consumers. As far as news channels are concerned, they are an important component of our strategy at Bayer. However, a specific mix of channels will obviously vary over time, based on a variety of factors including external events like elections, etc. We continuously strive to optimize our strategy to achieve maximum efficiency and effectiveness. The idea is to keep optimising our reach and effectiveness as a brand. And by remaining flexible in our approach to news and other channels, we’re able to stay ahead of the curve.

What is the marketing mix of your brand campaigns? Do you think that post the pandemic, brand messaging and propositions have changed in India?

The pandemic has forced many brands to rethink their messaging and proposition to better align with consumers' changing needs and priorities. By prioritizing health and safety, empathy, flexibility, and purpose-driven messaging, brands can build stronger connections with consumers in a post-pandemic world.

Our brand messaging and propositions were developed during the pandemic based on consumer learnings that are rooted in experiences and insights from their life. Most of these insights are as true today as they were during the pandemic. For instance, our campaign on Saridon ‘Sardard Chupao nahi mitao’ continues to be relevant. While the triggers for stress may change, the insight that resilient Indians hide headaches from their loved ones and the aspect that Saridon is the best go-to-solution for fast relief from a headache remains unchanged.

The nutrition category is one that saw the most ups and downs with Covid waves. Many consumers took to nutrition supplements for the first time in the last 2 years, as they realized the importance of complementing a healthy diet with good quality supplements. The demand for nutritionals that support the immune system and boost strength will stabilize and continue to grow further. We will continue to encourage our consumers to use good health supplements like Supradyn so that they can give their 100% every day. We will continue to stay closely connected with them so that our messaging stays relevant and meaningful to them.

Do you still advertise on news channels? Can you share some insights on how you market your brand on TV?

Yes, of course. We have a highly effective channel mix and strategy that are designed to efficiently reach and engage our target consumers. News channels are an important component of this strategy. While the specific mix of channels may vary over time based on a variety of factors, including external events, we are always focused on optimizing our reach and effectiveness.

Overall, our approach to channel mix is highly data-driven, allowing us to continuously evaluate and optimize our strategy to achieve maximum efficiency and effectiveness. By remaining flexible and adaptable in our approach to news and other channels, we are able to stay ahead of the curve and get the most value for our marketing investments.

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