With mere 13 league stage games to go in this year’s Indian Premier League, no team is officially eliminated from the race to the playoffs but having said that, the next couple of days could be crucial for a few teams, especially the ones at the bottom-half of the IPL 2024 points table.

On Thursday, two teams from the bottom half — Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings, both with eight points from 11 games so far, face off in a potential shootout at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala. Both sides can get to as far as 14 points although they might have to bank on the outcome of some other clashes to mathematically find themselves in the top four.

But the loser of Thursday’s contest will join the Mumbai Indians which can only get to 12 points, leaving their chances hanging on by the barest of threads. By all means, no team can afford a loss even as they head into the contest on the back of contrasting outcomes.

Punjab Kings have recorded four victories from 11 games so far, but have gone down by the closest of margins in most of their seven losses, thanks to their inconsistent top order batting and death over bowling. A few nights ago, the Punjab Kings recorded the highest ever T20 chase against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens and followed it up by a special win against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk but the defeat to the defending champions in the reverse fixture at Dharamsala has hurt Punjab’s hopes

Punjab’s batting in IPL 2024 has mainly revolved around the unsung heroes like Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma who had to do the heavy lifting after all the early damage. The duo has certainly impressed, more so Shashank, but during the chase against KKR, it was Jonny Bairstow finding his rhythm back at the right time, when Punjab started to look ominous. However, their impressive batting form was rendered hapless by a smart CSK bowling outfit in Dharamsala, and the home side can’t afford another below-par performance against RCB.

The RCB on the other hand, have also managed to win four matches out of their 11 so far, but three of their wins have been part of a late resurgence from the Faf du Plessis-led side. Down and out after seven losses in their first eight games, the RCB bounced back strongly by recording three consecutive victories that started by upstaging Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad before completing a double over Gujarat Titans.

Faf had rightly pointed out during one of the recent post-match presentations, that the late resurgence could be due to lack of pressure on the team. With their top order, including Faf and his opening partner Virat Kohli going great guns, and the likes of Will Jacks, Cameron Green and Dinesh Karthik adding meat to their scores, it could be a mouth-watering contest against Punjab’s high-flying bowling unit led by Kagiso Rabada, and comprising the likes of Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh, Harshal Patel and the spin duo of Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar.

RCB’s bowling, which lacked discipline early on, seems to have worked out their strategies better in the last three games with the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal and Cameron Green finally delivering the goods, making the contest all the more exciting