IPL Playoffs Predictions

 by Attish Das

As we approach to the end of the Indian Premier League Playoffs, with the final taking place on 28^th May 2023, these are my predictions for what will happen.

The format of the Playoffs are so that the top four of the league stage qualify for the playoffs. 1^st and 2^nd play each other in the Qualifier 1 where the victor goes directly to the final and the team that is defeated qualifies for the Qualifier 2. 3^rd and 4^th play each other in the eliminator, where the winner qualifies for the Qualifier 2 and the loser is eliminated. The champion of Qualifier 2 goes to the final and the loser is eliminated, similar to the eliminator.

As of now, Chennai Super Kings have closely slipped the win against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 to go directly to the final of this season’s IPL. Chennai had scored 172 while losing 7 wickets while doing so, with their top-scorer being Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring 60 of 44 balls. However, Gujarat lost all of their wickets while trying to chase those runs and getting all out at 157, with their top-scorer being Shubman Gill who obtained 42 of 38 deliveries. Ruturaj Gaikwad had won the man of the match award as his innings was the main reason of the amount that the Super Kings had secured. CSK had won by 15 runs.

Also, Mumbai Indians have obtained a place in the Qualifier 2 by eliminating Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator. This game was quite one-sided when it came to the second innings as Mumbai had obtained 182 while losing 8 wickets and Lucknow were not lucky as they were all out at 101 runs after Akash Madwhal had taken 5 wickets while conceding 5 run s in the process. Akash Madwhal was named man of the match with his final bowling figures being 5/5 of 3 overs and 3 balls.

On Friday 26^th May will be the Qualifier 2 of the IPL playoffs, where Gujarat Titans will be playing Mumbai Indians for a shot at the Finals against Chennai Super Kings. Gujarat Titans had been at the top of the league since the beginning after bringing victory after victory, as well as being the current IPL title holders. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians had struggled at the beginning of the league stage and made an excellent comeback to become 4^th in the table just qualifying for the playoffs. By looking at head-to-head, the two teams have competed each other 3 times with GT successful once and Mumbai with the other 2 victories, however the teams both have an equal chance of defeating each other to qualify for the finals.

The final is to be played at Ahmedabad where the winner will be crowned as IPL 2023 title holders will be named as part of IPL history. Many great performances are still yet to be announced with only two games remaining of the season. Any of the three teams of Chennai Super Kings (looking for their 5^th title), Gujarat Titans (aiming for their 2^nd out of 2 seasons existing) and Mumbai Indians (watching for their 6^th title) could win.