IPL 2021: Scott Styris gives his rankings to all eight teams; puts Rajasthan Royals at the bottom

Former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris has rated every franchise ahead of the upcoming second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021.

The second phase of the fourteenth season will resume on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Reigning champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the first game.

Styris pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of every team and gave his views about their chances as well. Notably, the former Kiwi cricketer had previously also predicted the rankings of the IPL teams.

Styris put Rohit Sharma’s MI at the top spot in his rankings. The Mumbai-based franchise is the most successful team in the cash-rich league, having won the prestigious IPL trophy five times. Styris placed IPL 2020 runners up Delhi Capitals (DC) in the second position. Following DC, the Super Kings were ranked as the third team, while Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were fourth.

When it comes to the bottom four teams, Styris put Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the fifth position, followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and Rajasthan Royals (RR). Even last year, the cricketer-turned-commentator had placed RR at the bottom, which eventually turned out to be correct.

POWER RANKINGS (way way too early) for IPL 2021 part Two

Without knowing who is playing and any new individual roles

1 – @mipaltan
2 – @DelhiCapitals
3 – @ChennaiIPL
4 – @RCBTweets
5 – @PunjabKingsIPL
6 – @SunRisers
7 – @KKRiders
8 – @rajasthanroyals

Thoughts?

— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) September 16, 2021

In another tweet, Styris also explained the reason behind giving such rankings to the IPL teams. He termed Mumbai as a settled team for the number one spot, while for DC, Styris felt the comeback of Shreyas Iyer is an advantage for them.

Similarly, Styris also addressed CSK as a settled unit, while for RCB, the former Black Caps all-rounder showed a bit of uncertainty regarding the overseas combination. He expressed the same concern for PBKS with questions over Nicholas Pooran’s form.

Regarding SRH, Styris displayed his disappointment for the absence of Jonny Bairstow, but he was happy to see David Warner’s possible return to the team. Styris placed KKR and RR at the bottom two spots and explained that the absence of their overseas players are the biggest sign of worry. While KKR will miss the services of Pat Cummins, RR will miss Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes.

Mumbai – same settled team 😎
Delhi – actually better #Iyer ⬆️
CSK – settled team. UAE form😏
RCB – sundar/overseas❓🤷
PK – pooran form/overseas 4❓
SRH – no Bairstow 😔Warner ✔
KKR – Cummins/Ferg, batting😬
RR – Jos/Jof/Kiwi Ben.🤬 loss 🥶

— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) September 16, 2021