Can Chennai & Rajasthan qualify for playoffs? Here's how teams fare as the race heats up

Lightning up mood of country, IPL 2020 in UAE came as a reliever for fans across India amid Coronavirus crisis. However, misery continued for Chennai fans as MS Dhoni & Co. have h one of worst seasons in history of IPL. After getting off to a brilliant start by defeating arch-rivals Mumbai in season opener, Men in Yellow have derailed from ir roaring campaign similar to past seasons and often found mselves on losing side. Jolted by some early blows which included COVID-19 attack and pulling out of stalwarts Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, team has never seemed to have recovered. 

Such has been ir season, that MS Dhoni & Co. are currently lowest-ranked side in IPL 2020 points table which is a sore sight for Chennai fans. With more 3 matches to go, Chennai will be raring to change ir fortune and gun for top 4 pool, however, y would require huge victories and a bit of luck to make it to playoffs. 

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Chennai need 3 wins

First things first, Chennai face number 3 side Bangalore at Dubai, in a match which y need to win at all costs. Men in Yellow have 3 wins from 11 matches and certainly need to win remaining matches so as to grab 6 points and end with six wins. Chennai will have to deal with ar setback which is ir Net Run Rate - which is lowest compared to or teams. Chennai's NRR stands at -0.733 and will need to propel it above 0.5 at least, to defeat or teams if it becomes factor for qualifying. 

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Apart from winning all three games with some huge margins, Chennai will also have to pray for some luck and bank on Kolkata to lose at least one fixture out of ir remaining 3 games. Although Eoin Morgan-led side seems to have found ir aggressive lost touch which seemed missing in first half of tournament, Chennai's dreams of qualifying would be washed away if Kolkata wins two matches and takes ir winning tally above 6. 

MS Dhoni & Co. will also remain dependent on Punjab, Rajasthan & Hyderab to lose some of ir games. Chennai will need all three teams fighting for fourth spot to t win more than 2 matches. 

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How can Rajasthan enter Top 4?

On or hand, inaugural champions Rajasthan also find mselves in a spot of bor as y have h a season filled with highs and lows. Apart from getting off to a fiery start in first two matches and finding ir trump card in Rahul Tewatia, Rajasthan have failed to make it to top 4 yet, despite being one of top contenders this season. Despite firepower of Jofra Archer, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and Sanju Samson, team has struggled somehow to put up match-winning performances. 

Rajasthan sit a place above Chennai on points table with 4 wins out of 11 matches and have an NRR of -0.620. Similar to Chennai, Steve Smith & Co will have to win ir remaining fixtures, starting from match against table-toppers Mumbai on Sunday. y will also have to ensure that y defeat KL Rahul's Punjab, which has been on a roll, winning 4 consecutive matches as y place ir foot in door for playoffs. 

Rajasthan would also need Kolkata and Hyderab to lose all ir matches and hope for Punjab to t win more than one game, since all se teams have better NRRs than Steve Smith & Co.

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