IPL in UAE: Scott Styris has surprising picks for top four finishers

Dubai: A highly-regarded cricket pundit has predicted the positions of all eight teams after the end of the league stages of the Indian Premier League (IPL) – and there are many surprises.

According to Scott Styris, the former New Zealand veteran who has played in the IPL in the past for the Hyderabad Sunrisers and Chennai Super Kings, the top four teams going into the play-offs will be Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings.

‘The Way too early power rankings,’ the 45-year-old Styris said on his official twitter account where he lists the finishing order of the eight teams at the end of the league stage.

. 1) @DelhiCapitals 2) @mipaltan 3) @KKRiders 4) @ChennaiIPL 5)@SunRisers 6) @RCBTweets 7)@lionsdenkxip 8) @rajasthanroyals

Styris’ predications are sure to raise eyebrows because his top pick, Delhi Capitals, have never qualified for the final of the tournament but in 2019, entered the play-offs for the first time under the smart captaincy of Shreyas Iyer.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians bank on their core players a lot and though they will miss Lasith Malinga this season, they have bought in Australian fast bowler James Pattinson as his back-up while Trent Boult will lead the pace attack. Kolkata Knight Riders fell short of qualifying for the play-offs last season but the Dinesh Karthik-led franchise has some good names this year to go all the way.

The Scott Styris predictions

1) @DelhiCapitals

2) @mipaltan

3) @KKRiders

4) @ChennaiIPL

5)@SunRisers

6) @RCBTweets

7) @lionsdenkxip

8) @rajasthanroyals