The IPL 2024 league stage is nearing its end. Out of the 70 league matches, teams have played 54 games but there is still no one officially qualified for the playoffs nor anyone has been knocked out in this race. Even Mumbai Indians have a little door ajar and are trying to find some luck to see if they can make it to the knockout stages.
Currently, MI are placed on the 10th spot with six points in 11 matches and if they win all of their remaining three contests, the five-time champions will have 12 points. However unlikely it might sound but looking at the current situation, MI still have a chance to qualify for the playoffs. They will need to win all of their matches and will then hope for some results to go their way. For them to sneak through, MI will need a maximum of three teams to go above 12 points and the other six (excluding MI) to stay on 12 or below. This way they can qualify through Net run rate.
Has any team qualified on 12 points in IPL ever?
But has any team qualified on 12 points before in the history of the tournament or are these hopes worth nothing?
Yes in the history of IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad are the only team to have reached the knockout stages on 12 points after the league stage. This was in IPL 2019 when an eight-team middle-table muddle was so tight that one of the teams reached the knockout stages on 12 points. While Mumbai Indians topped the group with 18 points, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals were second and third, respectively with 18 points too.
SRH were placed fourth with only six wins, followed by Kolkata Knight Riders with a similar number of wins too. But as the Sunrisers had a better NRR, they pipped KKR to reach the knockouts.
Notably, the IPL 2024 is not an eight-team event but a ten-team one. However, there is still a chance that a team can qualify on 12 points which can make MI fans happy.
How can RCB still qualify for playoffs?
As far as RCB are concerned, they have four wins in 11 matches and are placed seventh in the points table. They have to face Punjab Kings, Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings in their next games and if they manage to win all of the three, they will end up on 14 points.
RCB are better placed than MI at the moment as they have two more points in a similar number of matches. If the Bengaluru-based franchise manages to win all of their games, they would still need some other results to go their way. For RCB’s cause, no more than three teams shall go over 14 points with the other six (excluding RCB) finishing on 14 points or lower than that. This is possible and a little more likely than what MI need at the moment.