Published 00:32 IST, October 26th 2020
IPL 2020: Chennai become first team to be officially knocked out of race for qualifiers
Despite a dominating victory over Bangalore on Sunday, MS Dhoni’s Chennai squad has officially become the first team to be knocked out of the IPL qualifier race
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Despite a dominating victory over Bangalore on Sunday, MS Dhoni’s Chennai squad has officially become the first team to be knocked out of the race for qualifiers in the Dream11 IPL 2020. This is the first time in the history of the IPL that Chennai has failed to qualify for the playoffs. Rajasthan’s victory over Mumbai kept their hopes alive for a shot at the playoffs but resulted in Chennai being forced out of the tournament.
Chennai the 1st team to fail to qualify for playoffs in Dream IPL 2020
Ruturaj Gaikward's 50 helped Chennai chase down a tough score of 146 and beat Bangalore but here on, the Yellow squad can only amass at most 12 points while the top four teams will have to accumulate a minimum of 14 points for a spot in the playoffs. There was a good chance for Chennai given their past record in the IPL as Dhoni's team has managed to reach the playoffs every season except the two seasons in which they were unable to participate. Chennai even won the tournament in 2018 and reach the IPL finals in 2019.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Dhoni said, "We don't really have a chance to make it to the play-offs, leave the mathematical part of it. But three, three and a half hours out there can get really painful. You have to tell them - let's go out there and give it your best shot and enjoy the game whatever the result might be. If you aren't out there enjoying, it becomes very painful. But the boys have always given their 100%."
Two of Chennai’s star players, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, had to pull out of the tournament and the COVID-19 pandemic has been a determining factor in the team's game. While they had held extended training in Chennai before arriving in UAE, the COVID-19 scare forced them into extended quarantine resulting in them losing out on valuable training time right before the tournament.
(Image: Twitter/@ChennaiIPL)
00:33 IST, October 26th 2020