CSK out of IPL 2020: Is there any chance for CSK to qualify for IPL 2020 playoffs?

CSK to qualify for IPL 2020 playoffs: Chennai Super Kings are currently at the bottom of the points table after seven losses in 10 matches.

Any team becoming the first to be ruled out of contention to qualify for the playoffs of the Indian Premier League is bound to disappoint its fans.

In Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2020 case, the unfamiliarity of their fans of being in a similar position in the past has brought all the more anguish for them. Currently into its 11th IPL season, the team has always managed to qualify for the playoffs barring this time round.

For starters, Super Kings are not entirely ruled out of IPL 2020 after losing to Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi last night. However, what they require to qualify from this point is a five-letter word called “magic”.

In the general run of things, an IPL team requires eight wins in 14 matches to qualify for the playoffs. Having already lost seven matches, the maximum number of matches Chennai can win now is seven.

Much like the year 2020, Super Kings’ qualification demands an unprecedented set of results for normal results don’t change near-impossible situations.

Is there any chance for CSK to qualify for IPL 2020 playoffs?

What is hurting CSK the most is that 19 league matches are yet to be played in the ongoing 13th season of the IPL. Applying permutations and combinations are mostly suggested when teams have two or a maximum of three matches remaining in the league stage.

At this point in time, as many as six teams have five matches each remaining to be played which further increase the permutations for Chennai.

A primary criteria for Super Kings to make it to the playoffs is winning all their remaining four matches. Winning them by a large margin will be a much-needed icing on the cake for the runners-up of IPL 2019.

Delhi Capitals, who are the current table-toppers with seven wins in nine matches, will have to win all their remaining matches for CSK to qualify. The Shreyas Iyer-led team can afford to lose against Mumbai Indians as both DC and MI will have to qualify for CSK to qualify.

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If the same happens with Capitals and Mumbai wins against Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai will be the top two teams on the points table respectively.

Having won six out of their nine matches so far, Royal Challengers Bangalore are at the third position and will have to maintain the same position throughout for CSK to qualify. In reality, RCB and MI can even swap positions but it will remain vital for Bangalore to defeat the likes of Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The chief requirement behind Chennai’s qualification is that the top three teams remain where they are or, at the most, swap positions among each other. For the next four teams namely Knight Riders, Royals, Sunrisers and Kings XI Punjab, their points should not exceed 12 for CSK to qualify swiftly (swiftly being an irony).

That being said, if even one of these teams’ points rise to 14, then Super Kings will have another difficulty to overcome in the name of net run rate.

In the end, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Dhoni, who has pulled many out of the hat over the years, will have to perhaps pull out his biggest trick for Chennai to qualify for playoffs in IPL 2020.