Can Royal Challengers Bangalore Qualify For IPL 2023 Playoffs If They Lose To Rajasthan Royals?

IPL 2023 Points Table is pretty congested in the middle with six teams in close competition for a spot in the playoffs. RCB, RR play on Sunday afternoon in a must-win scenario to ensure their campaign is on track.

Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have blown hot and cold in Indian Premier League (IPL 2023), are under pressure to qualify for the tournament's playoffs. They take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in an away game on Sunday and a defeat can hurt their chances massively. The Faf du Plessis' side have lost two back-to-back matches vs Delhi Capitals (DC) and Mumbai Indians (MI). These two losses have pushed them back in the points table. Currently, RCB are at number 7 spot in the standings, with five wins from 11 matches. The ten points are not enough and if RCB win all their remaining matches, they will get 16. That should be enough to put them into playoffs but NRR may come into play if more two or more teams end up with the same number of points.

What if RCB lose today to RR?

RCB cannot afford a slip-up in IPL 2023 now. As said earlier, they must aim to win all three matches remaining. A loss tonight may not knock them out of the playoffs race mathematically but RCB will need more luck going their way for a spot in the top four. A loss against RR in Jaipur will mean RCB have only two matches left. If they win both, they can get to 14 points.

Bangalore can then only pray and hope that Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad lose their remaining matches. Mumbai Indians (14 points) play Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in a couple of days. That means either of the team will surpass the go past the threshold of 15 points. This will spice things up between RCB, RR, SRH, LSG, PBKS and KKR for the last spot in the top four.

Pressure on Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis

Being the seniors in the side and the current and former captains, Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli will be under extreme pressure to take RCB to the playoffs. Kohli, especially, has seen disappointment year after year in IPL. In 2022, they made it to the playoffs where they lost. If this season they fail to reach the playoffs, it will be like taking a step backward. RCB needs its bigwigs to lead the way. The best thing to do at the moment is to take one game at a time and treat every match like a knock-out affair. Let's see how long RCB can go with this approach.