Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 18 : After Punjab Kings (PBKS) loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), their sixth in a row, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that he still would not be surprised to see them qualify for playoffs because of Rajasthan Royals (RR) recent poor run and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) having two tough games ahead.
PBKS' once-dreamy IPL campaign, which started with a historic seven match unbeaten run including six wins and a no result, has spiralled down into absolute chaos as chinks in PBKS' batting and bowling alike continued to be exposed during a 23-run loss to RCB. With 13 points, the 2025 runners-up are still in fourth place and need to win their final game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to reach 15 points for having any further chance at remaining in the final four.
Other than that, PBKS should pray that their most immediate rivals for the fourth playoff spot, CSK (12 points with two matches against SRH and GT remaining), RR (12 points with two matches against LSG and MI remaining) and KKR (9 points with two matches against DC and MI remaining) win just one each of their remaining fixtures or nothing at all.
With this happening and PBKS winning their final game, PBKS will stay at fourth spot and qualify for playoffs.
Speaking on Star Sports 'Cricket Live', Gavaskar said, "I wouldn't be surprised to see Punjab Kings make the playoffs because teams like Rajasthan Royals are doing their best not to qualify. They lost this game against Delhi from a winnable position and if Rajasthan keep losing from winning positions, then all Punjab need to do is win their next game. That would take them to 15 points, which might be enough."
"Sunrisers are ahead of Punjab, and CSK can still reach 14 or even 16 points. But if CSK lose one match, then Punjab have a very real chance of qualifying," he signed off.
Coming to the match, PBKS opted to bowl first. After getting Jacob Bethell early for 11, Virat Kohli (58 in 37 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) and Devdutt Padikkal (45 in 25 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) put on a 76-run stand. Virat continued his fine run, registering his fourth fifty of the season and putting up 60 runs for the third wicket with Venkatesh Iyer (73* in 40 balls, with eight fours and four sixes), who, along with Tim David (28 in 12 balls, with two fours and two sixes), accelerated to take RCB to 222/4.
Harpreet Brar (2/35) was the leading wicket-taker for PBKS.
During the chase, PBKS lost their top-order Indian batters Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya and skipper Shreyas Iyer within a matter of 19 runs. Despite scores from Connolly (37) and Suryansh Shedge (35 in 22 balls, with two fours and two sixes), PBKS sank to 93/5 in the 10th over. Marcus Stoinis (37 in 25 balls, with five fours) and Shashank Singh (56 in 27 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) emerged as a beacon of hope with their counter-attacking 67-run stand for the sixth wicket. However, RCB managed to restrict PBKS to 199/8 in 20 overs, winning by 23 runs.
Rasikh Salam Dar (3/36) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/38) were the top bowlers for RCB.
RCB has booked its place in the playoffs, with nine wins and four losses and 18 points, sitting at the top of the table.
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