Can MI still qualify for playoffs 2022: Mumbai Indians have suffered a seventh consecutive loss in Indian Premier League 2022.
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While no team is guaranteed of a playoff spot in an Indian Premier League season, there is usually a lot of public support behind the most successful franchise in Mumbai Indians.
Although public support doesn’t count for much on the points table, it does speak highly about a team’s chances of doing well in an IPL season.
Having said that, all the public support and chances of doing well for Mumbai have been quashed in the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League.
MI, who have reached the playoffs after losing first four and five matches of IPL seasons in the past, had already lost their first six IPL 2022 matches before the recently concluded seventh match against defending champions Chennai Super Kings in Navi Mumbai.
Can MI still qualify for playoffs 2022?
A disappointing performance across facets witnessed Indians succumbing to a seventh consecutive loss after failing to defend a 156-run target tonight. Despite having an upper hand on the match for a large part of the second innings, Mumbai failed to restrict former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who scored 16 runs off four deliveries to seal yet another intriguing chase.
In simple words, seven back-to-back losses for MI mean that they haven’t tasted victory in the first half of IPL 2022 league phase. With seven more matches remaining for them, it is almost impossible for them to qualify for the playoffs.
In the general run of things, a team needs a minimum of 14 to 16 points to qualify for IPL playoffs. While 14 points bring the NRR (Net Run Rate) into contention, 16 points all but guarantee a playoff spot.
Devastating for #MI. So near and yet so far. This will be difficult to recover from.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 21, 2022
As far as Indians are concerned, even seven consecutive victories won’t power them to 16 points from hereon. Their chances of qualifying with 14 points remain minimal primarily because of a poor NRR of -0.892. However, it is worth mentioning that winning seven matches on the trot is in itself a dreamlike scenario which is almost impossible to achieve for an out-of-form team.