IPL 2024: Why hasn’t Rajasthan Royals qualified for Playoffs despite having 16 points in nine games?
Visitor Rajasthan Royals defeated Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets in at the Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium on Saturday to register its eighth win of IPL 2024, having played nine games, thus far.
However, despite earning 16 points, which generally ensures direct qualification in straightforward scenarios, Rajasthan is officially yet to get the ‘Q’ beside its name on the table. One more win should be enough to guarantee it a spot in the top-four.
This is because, with the exception of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore), all the other teams can still make it to 16 points.
IPL 2024: RR vs LSG HIGHLIGHTS
Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings have their task cut out with them requiring five wins out of their remaining five games to make it eight wins in total.
Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals can’t afford to lose more than once, while Chennai Super Kings will have a buffer of two games. Needless to say, if there is a midtable crunch all of these scenarios will fall back on the Net Run Rate.
Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad have ample breathing space with both sides having five wins from eight games.
IPL 2024 Points Table
| Pos. | Team | Mat. | Won | Lost | Points | NRR |
| 1 | Rajasthan Royals | 9 | 8 | 1 | 16 | +0.694 |
| 2 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 8 | 5 | 3 | 10 | +0.972 |
| 3 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 8 | 5 | 3 | 10 | +0.577 |
| 4 | Lucknow Super Giants | 9 | 5 | 4 | 10 | +0.059 |
| 5 | Delhi Capitals | 10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | +0.276 |
| 6 | Chennai Super Kings | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 | +0.415 |
| 7 | Gujarat Titans | 9 | 4 | 5 | 8 | -0.974 |
| 8 | Punjab Kings | 9 | 3 | 6 | 6 | -0.187 |
| 9 | Mumbai Indians | 9 | 3 | 6 | 6 | -0.261 |
| 10 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 9 | 2 | 7 | 4 | -0.721 |
RAJASTHAN’S REMAINING FIXTURES
vs Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad on May 2
vs Delhi Capitals in Delhi on May 7
vs Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on May 12
vs Punjab Kings in Guwahati on May 15
vs Kolkata Knight Riders on May 19