The Mumbai Indians stare at an early elimination from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, with a solitary defeat keeping them from becoming the first team to exit the playoffs race this campaign. Under Hardik Pandya‘s captaincy, the Mumbai Indians have barely clicked as a unit, with below-par performances from established stars, as well as poor leadership costing the team crucial moments in the season so far. With just three more games to go in the league stage of the campaign for MI, all hope is not entirely lost.

Mumbai Indians are still within the shout to qualify for the playoffs, though the chances of them finishing as one of the top 4 teams are minuscule.

How Can Mumbai Indians Qualify For IPL 2024 Playoffs?

Condition 1:First and foremost, the Hardik Pandy-led side has to win all of its remaining three matches in the IPL 2024 league campaign. MI are scheduled to take on the mighty Sunrisers Hyderabad next, with matches against Kolkata Knight Rider and Lucknow Super Giants to follow.

All eyes on @KKRiders and the Points Table

At the end of Match of #TATAIPL 2024, this is how all teams stand!

Predict the final standings after matches of your team pic.twitter.com/LfIvptd6u3

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 5, 2024

Condition 2: Hope that no other team crosses the 12-point mark in IPL 2024 standings. At present, SRH, LSG and CSK already have 12 points to their name. Hence, at least two of these franchises would need to lose their remaining matches in the league campaign. With KKR and RR already sitting at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots with 16 points each, it is impossible for Mumbai to topple them. In fact, big wins against other teams for KKR and RR would only benefit MI.

Condition 3: Mumbai Indians have a Net Run Rate of -0.356 at present. Even if MI win all of their remaining matches, they would need to do that by big margins in order to get into a positive NRR. But, that might not be enough if the NRR of other teams at 12 points is better than MI.

Though you never say never in a sport like cricket, it’s fair to assert that Mumbai Indians’ chances of IPL 2024 playoffs qualification don’t instill much hope in the hearts of their fans.