IPL 2024 Playoff, CSK Qualification Scenarios: Chennai Super Kings stand in a tricky situation in the IPL 2024 after losing their match against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, May 10.
Gujarat Titans defeated CSK by 35 runs in match 59 of the IPL 2024, handing the defending champions their sixth win of the season to make things difficult for them in the rest of the tournament.
CSK will be aiming to defend their IPL title successfully and win the back-to-back editions for the second time in their history.
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However, things are not going to be easy for Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side who stands in the fourth position in the points table with six wins and 12 points under their belt.
CSK's IPL 2024 Playoffs Qualifying Scenarios
A win over Gujarat would have taken CSK 14 points and into the third place, ahead of Sunrisers Hyderabad on Net Run Rate but with two more matches in hand, they can get to 16 maximum points.
However, 16 points might not be enough for the five-time champions to book their play-off berth as Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants also have 12 points each, placed at fourth and fifth spot respectively.
With DC and LSG facing each other in a few days, at least one team will have a chance to reach up to 16 points which means that the net run rate will again come into play.
If CSK manage to win only one match of their remaining two, then they will have to depend on LSG or DC winning only one of their remaining two matches.
Notably, Royals Challengers Bengaluru are placed in the seventh position and with two matches in hand, they also can get up to 14 points.
If CSK fail to win even a single match of the remaining two, they will be eliminated from the playoff qualification as one of LSG and DC will definitely attain 14 points.
CSK headed into the 17th edition of IPL as defending champions and had a massive change in their setup with MS Dhoni stepping down from the captaincy.
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While the franchise announced Ruturaj Gaikwad as their new skipper, they were off to a good start with two successive wins in the tournament but had mixed performance in the next few matches.
CSK will be up against Rajasthan Royals in their next match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, May 12 before facing RCB in their final league fixture at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, May 18.