IPL playoff qualification scenarios: Time is running out for Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians’ dreams of IPL 2026 playoff qualification are hanging by a thread following an emphatic eight-wicket defeat to the Chennai Super Kings. The alarming trend of middle-order collapses, most recently in the battle against CSK, has been the story of MI this IPL 2026, and that has now propelled the 5-time champions into a do-or-die situation.