IPL Playoffs: Lowest points for qualification in league history

The Indian Premier League has had several thrilling moments throughout its 17 seasons. The tournament has seen its share of narrow victories, despite the competition’s intense nature. Participating teams’ main goal has always been to do well in the group stage in order to guarantee a seamless playoff run.

In order to secure a postseason spot, clubs can safely aim for a margin of 16 points. Eight victories must be obtained overall during the round-robin phase to accomplish this. However, in this instance, the 2019 IPL season turned out to be an exception. Each of the top three teams finished with 18 points. Twelve points each were earned by Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Kolkata Knight Riders. Because SRH‘s net run rate was higher than KKR’s and KXIP’s (+0.577 versus +0.028 and -0.251), they took fourth place.

Regarding the 10-team tournament in the IPL 2025, a comparable form of mid-table instability can be seen. Teams in the top six are separated by just four points ahead of Match 48 of the current extravaganza. The Rajasthan Royals just thrashed Gujarat Titans by eight wickets, making it clear that no club has really dominated the season thus far. As things are going, it appears highly probable that there will be disagreements all the way to the end.

In 10 out of 17 seasons, clubs have barely advanced to the elimination round. Only twice have teams that finished the league phase with a total of 14 points gone on to win the championship.

Such IPL installments have made NRR an important consideration.

Every run or over in these conditions could determine a team’s fate regarding passage to the tournament’s final round based on the margin of victory or defeat.

Closely contested matches like the one that is currently going on are heavily influenced by rain-affected games and unexpected upsets. Sides have historically concentrated on winning games by any means necessary. Nonetheless, close games have shown how important it is to lose by the smallest amount possible in order to avoid making a significant impact on NRR. Coaches and analysts have had a more vital role to play in terms of paying closer attention to game management and matchups.