Ranking IPL team names from Best to Worst

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This year two more teams have been added to the IPL, further diversifying the biggest cricket league in the world. One of these teams has been named Lukhnow Super Giants while the other, an Ahmedabad based team is still to be named.

All the current teams are so old that we do not pay much heed to their names and just accept it as normal/ default. But the additions of these two teams got me thinking about other IPL teams’ names some of which are really good but some downright stupid.

Let’s look at the best and worst IPL team names.

Best IPL team names

Deccan Chargers

Deccan Chargers was a founding member of the IPL in 2008. Now defunct, the team was laden with a very stylish batting lineup. Players like Gilchrist, Symonds, Shahid Afridi, Styris, Herschelle Gibbs, Rohit Sharma, Kevin Peterson and others were among the very best T20 players at that time.

The Deccan Chargers won the 2nd season of the IPL which was held in South Africa. This team is for me the best-named team in the IPL. It is short, simple and refers to the Deccan Plateau which is where Hyderabad is based upon. This region produced some great dynasties such as Pallavas, Chalukya, Vijayanagara, Maratha Empire, Deccan Sultanate and Nizam of Hyderabad, which is why it is appropriate to name the team Deccan Chargers.

Delhi Daredevils

This might seem a little cliched at first but it gets the job done. Delhi people are known to wear their opinions (be it objectively right or wrong) on their sleeve, and hence this name encapsulates the Delhi attitude. It also flows nicely off the tongue.

Delhi Daredevils is catchy as well. All of these make it one of the best IPL team names.

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan is probably the most deserving of the Royals name given their history and the number of forts and palaces found there. Rajasthan Royals is a simple name that captures the essence of the state and hence it is one of the best names of any IPL team.

Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Kochi Turksers Kerala was originally named Indi Commandos which was thankfully thrown out of the window for its misrepresentation of the state. They changed it to Kochi Tuskers Kerala which is simple, has the region name in it and represents Elephant, an animal that is worshipped in the region.

Kochi Tuskers is a very cool name but they had to ruin it with Kerala at the end. Seems like they were overcompensating for naming their team without mentioning the regions, earlier.

Kings XI Punjab

Named when the catchphrase “Singh is King” was at the height of its popularity. The KXIP name is simple and slightly different from all the others due to the use of XI in its name which is why it should be rated as a good IPL team name.

Gujarat Lions

As is evident from the names above, team names that are self-explanatory and simple have been rated the best. This is the case with Gujarat Lions as well. Gujarat is the only home to Asiatic Lions in the world which makes the Gujarat Lions team’s name very appropriate and representative.

Passable IPL team names

Pune Warriors

Pune Warriors is another team name that includes the name of the regions and keeps it simple. All the names in the above category have adjectives that represent or capture the essence of the region, i.e. Lions, Royals, Daredevils etc, but warriors isn’t such a word. It is not great but also not a bad IPL team name.

Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings is one of the most popular team names in the IPL. It has become a brand in itself, so big that changing it would be financial suicide for the owners. This is also my favourite team because of Dhoni and their casual approach to defeating bigger and better teams. By the end of every season, people claim that year to be the last of CSK’s supremacy. They claim, “CSK would be spanked by all the teams next year if they go with the same team”. Not only do they go with the same team but also continue dominating others. I love it! Their name, however- not so much.

While Super or Soober is an incredibly popular word in Tamil Nadu, it is the kings part that just doesn’t sit right with me. I mean what even is a Super King? The ICL name for the Chennai team, Chennai Superstars seems a much better name to me.

Of course, the Chennai Super Kings name is so common and implanted in our brain that it doesn’t sound wrong to us now but objectively, I do not understand or like the name very much. Hence CSK to me is a passable/ decent IPL team name.

Mumbai Indians

There is certainly a link between bad team names and IPL wins. Both CSK and Mumbai Indians have won 9 of the 15 IPL seasons so far and both of them have weird team names. I mean what does even Mumbai Indians even mean?

That this team is an Indian team, as opposed to all the others that are not? Lazy and unimaginative!

Royal Challengers Bangalore

I do not like teams that try to shoehorn their company’s name into the team. RCB for example is owned by a liquor company, United Spirits. This company has a whisky brand called Royal Challenge which is where the RCB’s team name comes from.

I’m more annoyed that they’re named after a whisky which is not even good.

Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings is another lazy attempt at naming a team. Someone just sat there with words that could represent the region and put two of them together. Very passable.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the Sun Group which explains why they have sun in their name. They also have connections to the political party DMK which has a rising sun as their party logo.

The IPL team’s name is clearly trying to represent both which is good I guess. But the thing that irks me the most is why Sunrisers? Do they get up and help rise the sun? I have yet to understand the logic behind this.

Worst IPL team names

Kolkata Knight Riders

Now we come to the nitty and gritty of this list. One of the worst IPL names to me would always be the Kolkata Knight Riders. Let me explain why.

Knights are people who ride horses. Historically soldiers who fought on horses were called Knights. So Knight Rider would mean, “a person who rides a person who rides a horse”? People usually ride each other when they’re having sex. What is riding another person has to do with cricket.

Kolkata Knight Rider could also be influenced by David Hasselhoff’s 1982 TV series Knight Rider, which is even more so stupid. What has a 6.9 rated American TV series featuring a mediocre actor has to do with the IPL franchise?

Rising Pune Super Giants

Oh boy, where do I even start with this? Let’s start from the back.

Giants is a good name for a franchise. New York Giants are quite a famous American Football team for example. But what is a Super Giant? That’s using the same word twice. There is actually a word for it. It’s called Tautology! Super before Giant is redundant and has bad grammar.

Super Giant is a bad name in itself but it becomes worse when you move further. Rising Super Giants? Now that is a real doozy.

Rising Super Giant is what I describe my p*nis to my girlfriend when she asks if that is all.

Rising Pune Super Giants is probably the worst team ever not just in the IPL but in all of human history!

Lucknow Super Giants

The owners of the Rising Pune Super Giants made another team but just cannot come up with a different name than the previous one. Lazy, unimaginative and boring. This is even worse than the Rising Pune Super Giant because they had another chance at a good name but still chose the same.

They have not launched their team logo yet but if their name is anything to go by the team logo would be similarly unimpressive.

Delhi Capitals

The most unimaginative IPL team name is certainly Delhi Capitals. The fact that they thought Delhi being the capital of India is the only good thing about Delhi must be very offensive to the people of Delhi.

Do you agree with the list of best and worst IPL team names? Please weigh in your opinions in the comments sections below!

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