The 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to begin with the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the tournament opener at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on April 09.
The world’s biggest franchise league has returned to India after a gap of two years, with the last edition taking place in UAE due to COVID-19 issues.
Once again, all the matches will be played behind closed doors at six different venues – Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Mumbai.
Ahead of the upcoming IPL season, cricket experts have started making predictions about the strengths and weaknesses of all eight teams that will compete for the coveted trophy.
Hitman Rohit’s ‘jeet ki bhookh’ or King Kohli’s fiery passion?
Kiska mantra kaam aega, yeh toh #VIVOIPL ka Opening Match hi bataega! #MIvRCB
April 9 | Broadcast starts 6 PM & Match starts 7:30 PM | @StarSportsIndia, Star Gold & @DisneyPlusHS @Vivo_India pic.twitter.com/2gskAcuuV8
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 31, 2021
Recently, the former New Zealand cricketer also took to Twitter to predict the rankings of all teams.
Styris, who is likely to be a part of Star Sports’ Select Dug-Out during the IPL, has predicted 8th position for MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK). According to him, MI would finish at the top once again while Delhi Capitals (DC), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will book a place in the playoffs.
Styris further opined that the fifth spot would be occupied by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) followed by Rajasthan Royals (RR) at No. 6. Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will finish at the seventh position because of inconsistency in their batting order.
Let’s try this
WAY TOO EARLY POWER RANKINGS @IPL 2021
1- @mipaltan
2- @DelhiCapitals
3- @PunjabKingsIPL (auction?)
4- @SunRisers
5- @RCBTweets
6- @rajasthanroyals (Morris fitness/archer back quickly.Maybe ⬆️)
7- @KKRiders (batting worries)
8- @ChennaiIPLThoughts
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris) April 2, 2021