With the race for the playoffs ending sooner than expected in the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025), the quest for the top two spots is still on after three knockout-bound teams — Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings — have lost their respective last games to eliminated teams, making the top two spots available for all qualified teams.
While GT lost to Lucknow Super Giants in a stern 236-run chase, Royal Challengers Bengaluru were dealt with a similar 42-run loss in a chase of 232 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and PBKS were handed a 6-wicket thrashing by Delhi Capitals.
Only two points separate all four qualified teams as GT sits on top with 18 points, PBKS and RCB both with 17 points, while MI have 16 points all after 13 matches. The teams who finish in the top two will get to play Qualifiers, essentially giving them an extra game and chance to qualify for the finals, as the loser of Qualifier 1 will play the winner of Eliminator — played between the 3rd and 4th ranked teams — for a place in the finals.
Here’s scenarios for all four teams for top-two qualification in IPL 2025
Gujarat Titans: GT have the best chance to consolidate their position at the top. The top-two scenario is fairly straightforward for them: beat Chennai Super Kings, book a spot in Qualifier 1. A win against CSK in their last league game on Sunday will take the Shubman Gill’s side to 20 points, out of reach for all three remaining teams. Even if they lose to CSK, GT can still make it to top two provided that any one of MI, RCB or PBKS lost their last match.
Punjab Kings: Things are not simple for PBKS. They need to beat Mumbai first and hope either GT or RCB lost their last league game to book their berth in the Qualifier 1 match which will be played at their home ground in Mullanpur.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: The qualification scenario for RCB is exactly the same as PBKS. They need to ensure they win against LSG and hope MI beats PBKS and CSK beats GT. They can afford it if one of GT and PBKS wins their last match, but not both, as this will take matters into NRR. The good thing in RCB’s favour is that they will play the last match of the league stage, so if it comes down to NRR, they will know their target against LSG.
Mumbai Indians: The Hardik Pandya side, who were the last to qualify for playoffs, have a slim chance of a top-two finish. They have to win their last match vs PBKS, which will take MI to 18 points and then hope one of GT or RCB loses their last league game. That’s the only way for MI to play Qualifier 1.
| Rank | Team | P | W | L | NR | NRR | PTS |
| 1 | GT (Qualified) | 13 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0.602 | 18 |
| 3 | PBKS(Qualified) | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0.327 | 17 |
| 3 | RCB (Qualified) | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0.255 | 17 |
| 4 | MI (Qualified) | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 1.292 | 16 |
| 5 | DC (E) | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0.011 | 13 |
| 6 | KKR (E) | 13 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0.193 | 12 |
| 7 | LSG (E) | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | -0.506 | 10 |
| 8 | SRH (E) | 13 | 5 | 7 | 1 | -0.737 | 11 |
| 9 | RR (E) | 14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | -0.549 | 6 |
| 10 | CSK (E) | 13 | 3 | 10 | 0 | -1.030 | 6 |
(Table updated after PBKS vs DC on May 24)
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