IPL 2023 league stages are almost coming to an end and every team has only one game left. Today, we will explore the scenarios of how Mumbai Indians (MI) can qualify for the playoffs. Will their faith is in their own hand or do they have to expect other teams to get into the top 4?
Points Table is very tricky at this point
We have seen so many interesting nail-biting finishes and good games in the IPL 2023. And this time, the points table is very tricky and the tussle to go into the playoffs is on. Right now, only Gujarat Titans are the only team who qualified for the playoffs officially. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Delhi Capitals (DC) are eliminated already and have no chance in the IPL 2023 playoffs. The rest of the seven teams are still looking to go into the playoffs. RCB, CSK, and LSG have a better chance to go into the playoffs. But RR, PBKS, KKR, and MI also have an outside chance and we have seen in the IPL over the years, scenarios change as the tournament progresses. Today, we will only talk about how Mumbai Indians (MI) can qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs.
Mumbai Indians didn’t start IPL 2023 very well
Mumbai lost their first two games in the IPL 2023 against their two arch-rivals RCB and CSK. Since 2013, MI lost all their first games in the season. But they made a huge comeback in the tournament as we have seen over the years. This time as well, they are back into the race after winning their last 4 games out of 6. They will look to go into the playoffs and wants to win their 6th title. Let’s see the scenarios first.
How Mumbai Indians (MI) can qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs?
There are a few scenarios for Mumbai Indians to qualify for the playoffs. We will look into it one by one.
What if Mumbai Indians lost their last game
In case Mumbai lost their last league stage game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, then it will be very difficult for them to go into the playoffs. They will need to depend on other teams and will hope to get those results in their favour. Their fate will not be in their hand.
MI needs some favour
If Mumbai Indians lost their last game, they need a few results in their favour. They need RR to lose their last match. MI also need RCB to not only lose but lose badly by a big margin. Still, there is no guarantee because Mumbai Indians need KKR to either lose or if they win, they win by a very small margin so that MI can qualify on 14 points only due to the better net run rate (NRR).
If all these things happened, MI will finish on 14 points. And they have a better NRR than the other teams who finished on 14 points. But it is highly unlikely and MI needs to win their last game to be able to advance into the playoffs.
What if Mumbai won their last game
If Mumbai Indians won its last league stage match, there are better chances of them qualifying for the IPL 2023 playoffs. They will just need one of the three matches’ results to go in their favour.
If MI wins their last game, they need either Chennai Super Kings or Lucknow Super Giants to lose their last game. In that case, even if Royal Challengers Bangalore won their last game, it won’t affect MI’s qualification scenario.
What if CSK and LSG both won their last game?
If CSK and LSG won their last league stage match, then MI needs RCB to lose the game to qualify for the playoffs. Or either MI needs to win by a very big margin to better their NRR than RCB. In that case, MI can still afford an RCB win but by a very less margin.
If these things happened, Mumbai Indians will finish on 16 points and they have a better NRR than RCB, who themselves have a chance to finish on 16 points.
Will MI have a chance to finish in the top 2?
The top 2 teams have the luxury to play another game even if they lost the first qualifier. MI will also look to finish in the top 2 but for that, they will need to have some other games results in their favour.
At first, MI needs to win their last game as convincingly as possible so that they can go to 16 points with a better NRR. And then, they need CSK and LSG to lose their respective games and be restricted to 15 points.
Then, MI needs RCB to either lose the game or if they win, they should not win by a very big margin.
In that case, Mumbai will finish in the top 2 along with Gujarat Titans (GT).
Conclusion
So these are the scenarios for Mumbai Indians on how they can qualify for the top 4. We also discussed how MI can go to the top 2 in the IPL 2023 points table. MI will look to win its last game against SRH to have a better chance to go into the playoffs. We have seen in the past how MI came back in the tournament even after not starting well in the tournament. They are the most successful franchise in the IPL (Indian Premier League) history with 5 titles in their cabinet.
SRH might derail MI’s campaign
MI’s last game is on May 21 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai against SRH. SRH will also look to finish the tournament on high. They might ruin MI’s chances as well.
What do you think? Will MI can go into the top 4? Will MI can finish in the top 2? So many things to predict. Comment your predictions below.
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