The race for the final playoff position in the 2026 Indian Premier League came to a close. In a thrilling finish, the Rajasthan Royals secured the last of four playoff spots and will compete for a championship.
With this success, they now have a thrilling playoff schedule. The defending champion Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1, while the Sunrisers Hyderabad will play the Rajasthan Royals in a must-win eliminator.
How the Royals Clinched the Final Spot
Having nothing to lose, Rajasthan showed up and showed out. The Royals punched their ticket to the playoffs by netting the Mumbai Indians 30 runs at Wankhede. Facing at a hostile away field, the Royals batted superbly to set an imposing 205 on the board. The pressure of the run chase on the Mumbai batsmen was immense.
Rajasthan bowlers bowled with great control and variations to keep them in the game. Head coach Kumar Sangakkara lauded his team's composure even in the face of "immense pressure" and their death overs.
Sangakkara observed it all came down to who coped with pressure better, and he was full of praise for his bowlers and "tidy" fielding.
The Playoff Roadmap
The league phase of the tournament is done and the knockout stage of the IPL has begun. The victor of the Bengaluru and Gujarat encounter in Dharamsala will book themselves a straight ticket to the summit clash.
The defeated of Qualifier 1 have a lifeline. They play against the victor of the Hyderabad and Rajasthan Eliminator in Mullanpur. Rajasthan has a massive mountain to climb. The number four finish in the league will mean they can't afford a single mistake and must win three knockout games on the bounce to emerge as champions.
Facing the Fourth Place Curse
The Royals have demonstrated a lot of resilience, but cricket history poses an enormous challenge to them. No IPL team qualifying as 4th in the league stage has yet won the title since IPL adopted a playoff system.
There is a significant advantage to being one of the top two teams statistically. Last year, Royal Challengers Bangalore won the championship after qualifying in the top two. The only exception was Sunrisers Hyderabad, who won the tournament as the 3rd seed back in 2016. No franchise has ever won from the 4th seed.
This is where fresh talent, and in this case, youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, will prove key for the Royals to reverse this trend. His entry has provided vital depth to what is a strong batting order. If Rajasthan is to make history, the domestic youth will need to rise to the occasion and take some of the weight off the senior players.
Rajasthan comes into the knockouts as formidable dark horses riding the crest of a wave. They are capable of shocking the league but are going to have to end a 65-year curse to lift the 2026 trophy.
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