IPL 2023: And the Three Playoff Slots Go To…?

With just four league matches to go the three Playoff slots in the IPL-2023 are still open for grabs, only Gujarat (GT) having already secured the top slot. Thanks to their abandoned match due to rain Chennai (CSK) and Lucknow (LSG) are in some advantage, with 15 points each after sharing a point each. We think this gives bit of an edge to the two teams, because even if they lose their last matches they could still go through depending on what Bengaluru (RCB) and Mumbai (MI) do. But the dangers are also equally palpable. With 14 points each, if RCB and MI win their last matches they will straightaway enter into the Playoffs leaving only one slot to others and in that scenario either LSG or CSK will get thrown out, based on the net run-rate (NRR). And if CSK gets eliminated that’d be shattering for the MS Dhoni fans who’ve been celebrating the former India captain with the speculation rife that this could be his last IPL—the scenes were really evocative in Chennai when CSK marched around the stadium with Dhoni in the lead and cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar lining up for captain cool’s autograph and that was after CSK lost the match against Kolkata (KKR). However, more positively for the Dhoni fans, if CSK beat Delhi (DC) in the afternoon match today they’ll secure their Playoff slot. If LSG happens to beat KKR in the evening match today they’ll too enter the last stage. Therefore, in that scenario only one slot will remain for the other top contenders, namely RCB and MI.

 

Mumbai takes on Hyderabad (SRH) in the penultimate league match tomorrow, and as we said a victory for them will take them straight into the Playoffs depending on the results today. Bengaluru takes on the top team Gujarat in the last league match tomorrow, and like Mumbai a victory would take them into the Playoffs, depending on the results today. So, as regards the Playoffs, these four matches are virtual eliminators and qualifiers combined. What more could be expected from a competitive tournament with majority of the teams still caught in the throes of going through or not till the last moments?

 

If Mumbai and Bengaluru lose and Kolkata wins, a four-way deadlock at 14 points each could emerge with only one team hoping to fill the last slot based on the best NRR. Therefore, the contenders, RCB, MI and KKR, must not only look to win but also to try increase the NRR as much to an extent as possible, and Bengaluru, playing the last league match should be in an advantageous situation as they’d know exactly the scenario. It’d be really unfortunate if Rajasthan (RR) gets kicked out which is more likely than not, because the franchise had been playing quite consistently with the stars like Jaiswal, captain Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler, not to forget spinner duo of Ashwin and Chahal; their hopes crashed due to a few inexplicable aberrations, like getting all out for 59 in the all-important match against RCB. And it’s been really the resurgence of Mumbai, led by Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Tim David, and Bengaluru, led by captain de Plessis, Kohli to some extent and Maxwell, that has helped the teams remain top contenders.