Within a space of two matches, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have gone from strong playoff contenders to qualification hopefuls.
It is not only that they lost their last two games – to Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians – but as much the margin of defeats that is hurting Bangalore Based Franchise at the moment, and which could potentially hurt them later on when the league phase ends.
They have suffered back-to-back heavy defeats courtesy of some ordinary batting and even dismal bowling, rolling the clock back to RCB’s worst bowling shows in the IPL.
The Delhi Capitals chased down 182 in 16.4 overs and the Mumbai Indians chased down 200 in 16.3 overs, leaving Royal Challengers Bangalore with 10 points in 11 games and, more concerningly, a poor NRR.
RCB have now lost 3 out of their last 4 matches and sit at the 7th position in the points table with a grim NRR of -0.345 – Royal Challengers Bangalore’s NRRis only better than the bottom 3 teams, PBKS, SRH, and DC.
Can RCB still qualify for playoffs in IPL 2023?
Yes, Bangalore Based Franchise, who have 10 points in 11 matches, are still alive in the playoff race.
How can RCB still sneak into the playoffs?
There are 2 conditions for RCB to still be able to sneak into the playoffs:
1. RCB must win all their remaining 3 matches.
The hopes of Royal Challengers Bangalore reaching the playoffs are alive yet, but if they don’t manage to win all of their remaining 3 matches, than even a miracle couldn’t save them from elimination from the top 4 race. So, the Faf du Plessis-led unit must focus all their energies into the remaining 3 games as they playoff hopes hang by a thin thread.
2. Hope that no more than one team reached 16 points and whichever does, does it with an inferior NRR than RCB
RCB will need to win their three remaining matches by big margins to improve their poor NRR. The best scenario for them – as it was last year – that they got into the playoffs on 16 points and no other team had 16 points. That looks unlikely this season with 6 teams having points ranging from 10 to 12. So it’s a really stiff competition.
How many points does a team need to qualify for playoffs in Indian Premier League 2023?
16 points seem to be the minimum for a team to qualify for playoffs in Indian Premier League 2023.
Let’s go back to the 10-team IPL 2022 tournament to see what is the least amount of points for which a team can qualify in the playoffs.
In the 10-team IPL 2022, the team at the 4th spot to reach the playoffs last year – RCB – had 16 points while DC and PBKS with 14 points each just missed the playoffs. A win for both of them would have pipped them over RCB because of their better NRR.
