The IPL 2026 is heading towards a thrilling race to the playoffs. Less than two weeks of the IPL 2026 group stage remain, but no team has qualified yet. Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans are all on 14 points in 11 matches. Punjab Kings are now on 13 points from 11 matches after losing to Delhi Capitals on Monday. Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals ( both with 12 points in 11 matches) are fifth and sixth respectively.
Even Delhi Capitals (10 points in 12 matches) and Kolkata Knight Riders (9 in 10 matches) are in with a chance. All teams play 14 matches in the league stage.
What Is the Magic Number For Playoffs
Since the IPL became a 10-team tournament in 2022, 16 points have generally been regarded as the magic number for playoff qualification. In 2022 (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), 2023 (Mumbai Indians) and 2025 (Mumbai Indians), teams qualified for the playoffs in fourth place with 16 points. So that is the minimum that teams generally require to advance. Only in 2024 did four teams finish on 14 points – Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants – with RCB progressing due to a superior net run rate as the fourth-best team.
According to the IPL’s official broadcasters, GT, RCB and SRH have an 80 per cent chance of qualifying in 2026 after Monday’s result. PBKS (62.5 per cent), CSK (42.7 per cent) and RR (41.8 per cent) are the next favourites to advance. KKR (11.6 per cent) and DC (1.2 per cent) have a tough task at hand. Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants have been eliminated.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer did not mince words after Punjab Kings slumped to their fourth successive defeat, blaming the team’s bowling and fielding after failing to defend what he felt was a total “30 runs more” than par on a tricky pitch against Delhi Capitals.
PBKS lost by three wickets to Delhi Capitals in a home IPL game here on Monday.
“I won’t beat around the bush, I’ll just say fielding and bowling again,” Iyer said.
Priyansh Arya hit half a dozen sixes in his whirlwind 33-ball 56 before DC pacers tweaked their lengths to limit Punjab Kings to 210 for five. Besides Arya, Iyer made 59 not out off 36 balls to push PBKS to 210 for 5 on a wicket that had something for the fast bowlers.
Aggressive knocks from David Miller (51 off 28) and skipper Axar Patel (56 off 30) allowed DC to gun down 211 in 19 overs for the highest chase at the HPCA Stadium.
Asked if he thought 210 was a good score on this wicket, Iyer said: “Absolutely, I feel that it was 30 runs more on this wicket considering how the ball was seaming and there was variable bounce.” Iyer said he thought of bringing in impact substitute Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack but changed his mind after witnessing the assistance for the seamers from the pitch.
“There was absolutely a thought in my mind (on introducing Chahal), but the way the ball was seaming and the way it was helping the seamers, I think if we would have executed our line and length precisely, we could have been able to extract wickets, but unfortunately again, we didn’t.
“I always say that the hard length – short of a hard length – is the best ball, especially when a new batsman is coming in. It’s not easy to hit because if you keep repeating those balls, at least one ball gives a chance of mis-hitting and you can get a wicket. We’ve been short of planning,” he said.
With PTI inputs