New Delhi: At the beginning of the 17th edition of Indian Premier League 2024, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru would have never imagined about their current horrendous run in the premier event. The bottom-placed RCB side has experienced misery in the first half of the season and the second half also doesn’t seem to bring some happiness to them or maybe, it brings.

Out of the total eight matches played till know, the Faf du Plessis-led side has experienced defeats in seven matches while just a lone game has brought smiles on their faces with a win. Although, the individual performances of some of the players in the side has been great, headlined by star batter Virat Kohli, but collectively, the team has failed to outplay any side.

If the Royal Challengers are able to win all of their remaining six games in the marquee event, starting from the Thursday clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad, against their points will get increased to 14 from current 2. This way, the Bengaluru side will not have to bother about the net run rate scenario and their qualification to the playoffs becomes a possibility with results of other teams too landing in their favour.

The best-case scenario for RCB is if the top three teams or at least top two sides notch up victories in their remaining games. Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad are the top three sides in the table and with wins their respective upcoming games, the lower-placed sides will fight for the fourth spot as these three will occupy the three positions with 22, 20, 20 points respectively. RCB can becomes the fourth team with 14 points in the table as the others would get stuck on 12 and 10 points.

Let’s assume that Knight Riders and Sunrisers experience a dip in their performance and go on to win just a single upcoming game and lose the rest, then currently fourth-placed side Lucknow Super Giants come into fray. If the Super Giants win all their upcoming matches, then they along with the Royals would finish in the top 2 with 20 points each. RCB can this way take the third spot with 14 points as the rest of the teams would be on 12 points. This scenario is only possible when either KKR or SRH finish in top 2.

If RCB lose Thursday’s clash against the Hyderabad side and go on to win the remaining 5, they will still finish on 12 points, with a little hope of qualification remain although it will get complicated. The net run rate will come into play and RCB will have to bag victories with big margins as there will be eight teams with 12 points in their kitty fighting for two spots.