Can Chennai & Rajasthan qualify for playoffs? Here's how teams fare as the race heats up

Lightning up the mood of the country, the IPL 2020 in UAE came as a reliever for fans across India amid the Coronavirus crisis. However, the misery continued for Chennai fans as MS Dhoni & Co. have had one of the worst seasons in the history of IPL. After getting off to a brilliant start by defeating arch-rivals Mumbai in the season opener, the Men in Yellow have derailed from their roaring campaign similar to past seasons and often found themselves on the losing side. Jolted by some early blows which included the COVID-19 attack and pulling out of stalwarts Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, the team has never seemed to have recovered. 

Such has been their season, that MS Dhoni & Co. are currently the lowest-ranked side in the IPL 2020 points table which is a sore sight for Chennai fans. With more 3 matches to go, Chennai will be raring to change their fortune and gun for the top 4 pool, however, they would require huge victories and a bit of luck to make it to the playoffs. 

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Chennai need 3 wins

First things first, Chennai face number 3 side Bangalore at Dubai, in a match which they need to win at all costs. The Men in Yellow have 3 wins from 11 matches and certainly need to win the remaining matches so as to grab 6 points and end with six wins. Chennai will have to deal with another setback which is their Net Run Rate - which is the lowest compared to other teams. Chennai's NRR stands at -0.733 and will need to propel it above 0.5 at least, to defeat other teams if it becomes the factor for qualifying. 

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Apart from winning all the three games with some huge margins, Chennai will also have to pray for some luck and bank on Kolkata to lose at least one fixture out of their remaining 3 games. Although the Eoin Morgan-led side seems to have found their aggressive lost touch which seemed missing in the first half of the tournament, Chennai's dreams of qualifying would be washed away if Kolkata wins two matches and takes their winning tally above 6. 

MS Dhoni & Co. will also remain dependent on Punjab, Rajasthan & Hyderabad to lose some of their games. Chennai will need all the three teams fighting for the fourth spot to not win more than 2 matches. 

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How can Rajasthan enter Top 4?

On the other hand, inaugural champions Rajasthan also find themselves in a spot of bother as they have had a season filled with highs and lows. Apart from getting off to a fiery start in the first two matches and finding their trump card in Rahul Tewatia, Rajasthan have failed to make it to the top 4 yet, despite being one of the top contenders this season. Despite the firepower of Jofra Archer, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Sanju Samson, the team has struggled somehow to put up match-winning performances. 

Rajasthan sit a place above Chennai on the points table with 4 wins out of 11 matches and have an NRR of -0.620. Similar to Chennai, Steve Smith & Co will have to win their remaining fixtures, starting from the match against table-toppers Mumbai on Sunday. They will also have to ensure that they defeat KL Rahul's Punjab, which has been on a roll, winning 4 consecutive matches as they place their foot in the door for the playoffs. 

Rajasthan would also need Kolkata and Hyderabad to lose all their matches and hope for Punjab to not win more than one game, since all these teams have better NRRs than Steve Smith & Co.

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