Former New Zealand all-rounder turned commentator, Scott Styris, reckons Chennai Super Kings (CSK) shall be rated higher as a franchise than Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) because it has been able to produce more uncapped players for India. 

This, despite MI holding a wood over CSK in recent years, including four victories in four outings during IPL 2019, and winning more trophies (four) than its arch-rivals (three). 

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But in counter to that, Styris said MS Dhoni's team has had two IPL campaigns less than Rohit Sharma's side in the history of the league. 

Further, he pointed out how Dhoni, his team's best end-overs batsman, has had immense success while facing MI's best death bowler in Lasith Malinga. 

"I've got four points. It's about consistency, CSK have never missed the final series, have won the most knockout matches, it's the expectation and reliance on these IPL teams to produce Indian players and CSK have produced the most uncapped players for India and it's a real desire that they have to continue to develop players in that regard," Styris, who played 12 games for CSK, said on Star Sport's show ‘Cricket Connected'.

"It's about the best finisher in the game against the best finisher bowler. Dhoni vs Malinga and Dhoni owns Malinga," he added. 

Inarguably, both Dhoni and Malinga are legends of the IPL, with Dhoni scoring 4,432 runs at a strike rate of 137.85 across 190 matches and Malinga taking 170 wickets at an economy rate of 7.14 in 122 games. 

MI was due to face CSK on the opening day of the IPL this year but the league's 13th edition got indefinitely postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

All stakeholders are hoping for the world to soon overcome the deadly outbreak so that the tournament can be played at a later date. 

(Inputs from IANS)