IPL 2019: Royal Challengers Bangalore's playoff chances hang by a thread

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lost its sixth consecutive match in IPL 2019 against Delhi Capitals (DC) by four wickets. Can it still make the playoffs?

Royal Challengers Bangalore slumped to its sixth loss against the Delhi Capitals on Sunday.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has left its fans dejected with a poor performance this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). And Sunday was no different: inconsistent performances with the bat, ball, and uninspiring fielding against Delhi Capitals saw RCB slip to its sixth consecutive defeat.

Virat Kohli top-scored for the side with a 33-ball 41, but the team struggled to put up a challenging score.

No hope remaining?

Mathematics is what an RCB fan must resort to now. Irrespective of the net run rate, it would take eight victories for a team to qualify for the knockouts. Teams with just seven wins have qualified on earlier occasions, but that would require a very high NRR.

As it happened

RCB's situation is bleak, yet all hope is not lost. When it comes to the worst starts to a season, RCB has joined Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) at top of the list with six losses on the trot, followed by Deccan Chargers (now Sunrisers Hyderabad) with five. Incidentally, IPL powerhouse Mumbai Indians has featured thrice on this list, one which all teams hope to avoid. Here's a list of teams with the worst possible starts to a season and where they finished in the points table at the end of the league stage.

Losses	Team	Season	Final standing
6	Delhi Daredevils	2013	Ninth
6	Royal Challengers Bangalore	2019	Eighth*
5	Deccan Chargers	2012	Eighth
5	Mumbai Indians	2014	Fourth
4	Mumbai Indians	2008	Fifth
4	Mumbai Indians	2015	Fourth

(*Season still on)

Can RCB do an 8/8? Considering how things have gone, it will be challenging for the Bengaluru team to win all its remaining eight league matches. Captain Kohli could be forced to go in some major tweaks to make things work.

At the post-match presentation ceremony following RCB's loss on Sunday, Kohli said, "We need to grab those chances, can't give excuses every day. We just weren't good on the given day. That's been the story of RCB this season.  "There's nothing more you can tell the team. We've asked the boys to take responsibility. It hasn't happened so far, and that's the reality. We need to play expressive cricket. After a while, it's about the skill.  "Team needs to relax, whatever's in front of us, we just need to accept it. We don't want to not be able enjoy as a team, otherwise we won't be able to play any good cricket at all."

As of now, what can be said is that if things do work out for RCB, it will rank among the greatest comebacks in IPL history.