IPL 2025 Playoff Predictions: Who’s Likely to Make the Final Cut?

The IPL 2025 points table is going through changes almost every single day with no clear favourites as of now to make the final four, but there are signs as to who are likely to finish at the top as well as play the knockouts.

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Axar Patel’s Delhi Capitals need to find their form to feature in IPL 2025 playoffs.

The 18th edition of Indian Premier League is heating up as the business end is fast approaching and more than four teams — who will qualify for the IPL 2025 playoffs — are locked in a tight battle to secure a spot.

The IPL 2025 points table is going through changes almost every single day with no clear favourites as of now to make the final four, but there are signs as to who are likely to finish at the top as well as play the knockouts.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru has been in prime form, Mumbai Indians have found their rhythm, Gujarat Titans have been solid as ever while the other teams in Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings are also going strong.

There is also Lucknow Super Giants in the mix which means that the remaining matches until the knockout round arrives will be a tough fight between all these teams for four spots in the IPL 2025 play-offs.

At the top of the points table, after Match No 48 is Royal Challengers Bengaluru, a team which has been phenomenal this season when it comes to their style of play across departments. They have an adequate amount of firepower when it comes to attacking as well as defending in tough situations, which is an indication of a perfect mix of talent which is also executing their plans well.

Virat Kohli’s presence in the dressing room as well as his ferocity in the middle is something that gives the teams an extra edge, irrespective of which team he plays for. The likes of Phil Salt and Tim David provide RCB with aggressive options, whereas Indian batsmen in Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar have done a phenomenal job in supporting their cause.

Playing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, it is never easy to defend, but the pitch this year has been on the slower side, forcing RCB to shift their plans which has thrown a new challenge, which has been able to take into account and put in performance accordingly with Josh Hazlewood being a star performer with the ball.

Yes, RCB are one of the favourites to make it to the final four along with former five-time champions Mumbai Indians who have been on a roll, winning five matches in a row to rise from the ninth position in the table and from a situation where the season looked almost over for them.

The reasons why Mumbai Indians have been able to rise so strongly is because their former captain Rohit Sharma is back into red-hot form, having hit consecutive centuries against Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad while Suryakumar Yadav is also in full flow along with Tilak Varma.

Mumbai Indians literally do not have a soft spot in terms of their overall balance of the squad as their bowling attack is extremely dangerous with the likes of Jaspreet Bumrah, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar doing fine job while their spin attack has been taken care of by Will Jacks, Karn Sharma and Mitchell Santner.

Hardik Pandya has had a successful run as an all-rounder, as well as as a captain, giving his team the adequate support in all facets of the game that they have required.

Gujarat Titans have been a team to beat in this IPL given that they have mixed a perfect blend of youth and experience at the top of the order, which has been the base of their success.

Young Indian batters in B Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill have had a good run at the top of the order while experienced Jos Buttler has produced consistent performances to keep the Gujarat Titans, who won the IPL in 2022, at the top of their performance.

However, bowling could be a little weak for GT as seen against Rajasthan Royals a few nights back when a 14-year-old kid in Vaibhav Suryavanshi ripped apart their attack for a historic century. That bowling attack of GT consisted of Test bowlers and Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Rashid Khan and Karim Janat yet Suryavanshi showed that GT can be defeated thoroughly if they are attacked with the right intent.

But overall, there should not be any major concerns with Gujarat Titans, who are a well-knit unit under the leadership of India vice captain Shubman Gill and former India bowler Ashish Nehra. They have a philosophy of keeping it simple which has worked really well for them and GT will be one of the teams which will present a strong challenge for a place in the play-offs.

Delhi Capitals have also been one of the formative teams in the IPL, but they have lost their form, having lost four out of the last five matches and are going through a troubled time. Otherwise, Delhi Capitals, a formidable bunch of players across departments who can do wonders both with the bat as well as with the ball, but it will be important for the team under the captaincy of Axhar Patel to find its form and bring an end to their troublesome run.

It is surprising that Punjab Kings, given the talent that they have at their disposal, are placed in the mid table at the fifth position while they should have been featuring among the top teams. Punjab Kings, nevertheless, have five wins from nine matches and they are one of the contenders for the play-offs this year for the sheer firepower that they have both in batting and bowling.

Punjab Kings have a super explosive batting line-up at the top consisting India’s dependable Shreyas Iyer, Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya doing a fabulous job with the bat, but for them to win the IPL, they will need their Australian all-rounders in Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis to perform which has not been the case so far.

Otherwise, PBKS do not have any such major concerns in their bowling department.

As things stand, RCB, MI, GT, DC and PBKS should make the final four with one of these teams losing out.

Parimatch sports analyst Sir Vivian Richards