"I feel everyone will go home on Monday" - Aakash Chopra on Rajasthan Royals' playoff hopes after IPL 2023 win vs Punjab Kings

Aakash Chopra reckons the Rajasthan Royals' (RR) win against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) will not be enough to earn them a place in the IPL 2023 playoffs.

PBKS set RR a 188-run target after being asked to bat first in Dharamsala on Friday, May 19. Sanju Samson and Co. chased down the target with four wickets and two deliveries to spare to keep their slim hopes of making it through to the knockout stage alive.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that the Rajasthan Royals might have drawn level with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) on points but will be knocked out of the tournament at the end of the league phase, elaborating:

"Rajasthan have won the match, they have also reached 14 points, they can mathematically qualify as well, but will math work in their favor? If they had completed the run chase in 18.3 overs, their net run rate would have gone above Bangalore, but what difference does NRR make to RR?"

The former Indian opener added:

"I feel only math has kept them back, that they will print their boarding passes later, but I feel everyone will go home on Monday. Rajasthan won but they have only won."

RR need MI and RCB to lose their respective final games to stand a chance of qualifying for the playoffs. RR (0.15) have a marginally inferior net run rate to RCB (0.18) and even a narrow loss for Faf du Plessis and Co. on Sunday might be enough for last season's finalists to make it through to the playoffs.

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"That just defines their season" - Aakash Chopra on big-ticket Rajasthan Royals batters not firing in IPL 2023

Jos Buttler has been dismissed for a duck in his last three innings. [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra pointed out that big-ticket players like Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson have let the Rajasthan Royals down, explaining:

"Buttler has five ducks this year, he had four centuries last year. Sanju Samson started like a rocket again and then crashlanded completely. He hasn't scored runs in the important matches in the end. That just defines their season if big players are not scoring runs."

The cricketer-turned-commentator concluded by naming Yashasvi Jaiswal as the only bright spot for the Rajasthan Royals in the league phase of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League, stating:

"Yashasvi Jaiswal - the only shining star, the bright star. He is now officially the uncapped player to score the most runs in a season in this tournament's history. He will not get to play a single match after this but he has done well."

Jaiswal has amassed 625 runs at an excellent strike rate of 163.61 in 14 innings in IPL 2023. He surpassed Shaun Marsh's tally of 616 runs to become the highest-scoring uncapped player in an IPL season.