The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoffs are all but set, with Gujarat Titans, Chennai Super Kings, and Lucknow Super Giants already assured of a spot in the next round. The fourth slot is still up for grabs, with the likes of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, and Rajasthan Royals in the fray. As for RCB and MI, their fate is in their own hands, with a specific result earning them the final spot in the knockouts. But, for RR to go through to the next round, both RCB and MI would need to lose their respective matches in a certain manner.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Playoffs Qualification Scenario:
With the best Net Run Rate of the three teams in contention, the Faf du Plessis-led franchise is in the most promising position to go through to the next round. A win over defending champions and table-toppers Gujarat Titans would be enough for them to sail through unless Mumbai Indians’ margin of victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad is such that the NRR of Rohit Sharma‘s side trumps RCB’s.
NRR for RCB: +0.180
NRR for MI: -0.128
With Mumbai playing their final match of the league campaign first, the Bengaluru side will have a clear advantage of knowing what sort of a result they would need against GT to qualify.
Mumbai Indians Playoffs Qualification Scenario:
Winning against bottom-table Sunrisers Hyderabad would be enough for Mumbai Indians if Royal Challengers Bangalore suffer a defeat against the Gujarat Titans in their final match later in the day. If RCB too go on to beat GT, then the situation would come to the Net Run Rate, where MI aren’t in the most promising position.
For Mumbai to go ahead of Bengaluru’s current NRR, they would need to beat Hyderabad by a huge margin. But, even then things could change if RCB go on to beat GT by a margin that helps them surpass MI on NRR.
All in all, MI’s playoffs hopes rest in the hands of GT even if they win against SRH.
Rajasthan Royals Playoffs Qualification Scenario:
Not all out of the race, but the Royals don’t have their fate in their own hands. For the Sanju Samson-led side to qualify for playoffs, both RCB and MI would need to suffer defeats in their respective final league matches. RR sit on 14 points at present and if both RCB and MI lose, there will be three teams on 14 points each.
RCB NRR: +0.180
RR NRR: +0.148
Since Rajasthan’s NRR is better than MI’s, they would, the only hurdle in front of them would be the Royal Challengers. But, if the Faf du Plessis’ led side lose by a reasonable margin, since the NRR difference between the two sides isn’t much, the Royals will go through.
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