The playoff battle in IPL 2023 has become exciting. 66 matches have ended, but so far only one team has made it to the last four. Apart from Gujarat Titans, the place of no team has been confirmed. Now only two days are left for the league round to end. Two matches each i.e. a total of four matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday and this will decide the remaining three teams of the playoffs.

The teams of Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings are out of the playoff race. However, Delhi and Hyderabad are yet to play one match each and would like to dash the hopes of other teams. At the same time, there are currently six teams in the playoff race. These include the teams of Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Rajasthan Royals. Barring Rajasthan, the remaining five teams have one match each. Let's first know the condition of the points table-

The Gujarat team has already qualified for the playoffs, so we will not talk about this team in the playoff scenario. At the same time, the teams of Delhi, Hyderabad, and Punjab have been eliminated. Apart from these, we are talking about six teams reaching the playoff equation...

Now 6 teams in the playoff race
team points to how many matches against whom
CSK 15 1 DC
LSG 15 1 KKR
RCB 12 1 GT
RR 14 0 --
MI 12 1 RR
KKR 12 1 LSG

Note: GT has qualified for playoffs, SRH, DC, and PBKS are out

Chennai Super Kings
Chennai has played 13 matches in the league round so far and has 15 points. The net run rate of Chennai is currently +0.381. Under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, if Dhoni's team wins the match against Delhi Capitals on Saturday, then it will have 17 points and the team will directly reach the playoffs. He will not have to depend on any team again. On the other hand, if CSK's team loses, then it will have to depend on the results of other teams. Then CSK will have to convince that one of the teams from Lucknow, Bangalore, and Mumbai lose their last match because these are the three teams that can overtake them if CSK loses. Chennai can secure a place in the playoffs even with 15 points if anyone loses.

last fight
vs Delhi Capitals (Delhi, May 20)
Lucknow Super Giants
Like Chennai, the Lucknow team also has 15 points after 13 matches and is third in the points table after Gujarat and Chennai. Lucknow's net run rate is +0.304. Like Chennai, the Lucknow team has to play the last league round match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday. On winning this match, the Lucknow team will directly reach the playoffs. On losing, Lucknow will have to convince that one of the teams from Chennai, Bangalore, and Mumbai lose the match. A loss to Bangalore and Mumbai by any margin will seal Lucknow's place in the last four. However, this is not the case in Chennai. Lucknow will have to be convinced that Chennai lost by a huge margin because the net run rate of Chennai is much better than Lucknow's. Even if they lose by 10-15 runs, Chennai will remain above the Lucknow team in terms of net run rate. In such a situation, even if the teams of Mumbai and Bangalore win, Lucknow will be out of the playoff race. On defeat, it would be easiest for Lucknow to pray for Mumbai and Bangalore to lose.

last fight
vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Kolkata, May 20)
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Nothing is easy for Bangalore right now. He has 14 points in 13 games. At the same time, his net run rate is +0.180. The team is currently in the fourth position in the points table. RCB's last match is against table-toppers Gujarat Titans on Sunday. Even after winning this match, Bangalore's place in the playoffs will not be confirmed. If Chennai and Lucknow manage to win their respective matches on Saturday and Bangalore also wins their match, then they will have to wait for Mumbai's match and have to believe that Mumbai either lose their last match or does not win by a big margin. In such a situation, Bangalore's net run rate will be better than Mumbai and the team will reach the playoffs. RCB's net run rate could be in danger if Mumbai wins by a huge margin. Apart from this, if Bangalore manages to win their last match and one of Lucknow-Chennai loses, then RCB's place in the playoffs will be confirmed. If both Bangalore and Mumbai lose their last matches, then apart from these two teams, the net run rate of Rajasthan will decide the fourth team. Even if Kolkata wins from Lucknow, its net run rate is very low.

last fight
vs Gujarat Titans (Bengaluru, May 21)
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan have played all their 14 matches of the league round. Last year's runners-up team is currently placed fifth with 14 points from 14 matches with seven wins and seven losses. His net run rate is +0.148. The simple equation for Rajasthan is that Mumbai and Bangalore lose their respective matches by huge margins. In such a situation, the fourth team will be decided on the net run rate between RCB, Mumbai, and Rajasthan. In this situation, the Rajasthan team will reach the playoffs with a better net run rate. If either Bangalore or Mumbai wins, Rajasthan's journey will end in this IPL.

No matches left
Mumbai Indians

Like Bangalore, the road to Mumbai has also been full of troubles. After a poor start in the league, the team won some great matches and kept itself in the race for the playoffs. Mumbai's team is sixth in the points table with 14 points from 13 matches. His net run rate is -0.128, which is the biggest problem for him. Mumbai will have to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad under any circumstances to reach the playoffs. Not only this, he has to win by a huge margin. If Chennai, Lucknow, Bangalore, and Mumbai all four manage to win their last matches, then Mumbai will have a direct fight with Bangalore on net run rate. Bangalore's net run rate is positive, so Mumbai will have to win big. The best thing for Mumbai is that their match is the last and they will know about every equation. Bangalore and Mumbai, if both the teams lose the last match then MI's journey in IPL will end as Bangalore and Rajasthan are far ahead of them in terms of net run rate.

last fight
vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (Mumbai, May 21)
Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata currently has 12 points from 13 matches with six wins and seven losses. The team has to play the next match against Lucknow Super Giants at their home ground. To stay in the playoff race, Kolkata will first have to beat Lucknow by a big margin, so that its net run rate, which is currently negative (-0.256), becomes positive. After that, it will have to be celebrated that Bangalore and Mumbai lose their respective matches. After this, the fourth team will be decided on the net run rate between Bangalore, Mumbai, Rajasthan, and Kolkata.

last fight
vs Lucknow Super Giants (Kolkata, May 20)

(pc amarujala)