With the IPL 2025 slated to resume on Saturday, 17 May, after a temporary halt due to the military deadlock between India and Pakistan, seven franchises are still in contention for the playoff spots. This pause-enforced extension has led to a modified schedule for the remaining games, and the same has been circulated to all the teams. Unlike originally, only six grounds have been selected to host the remainder of the season, and the Eden Gardens, Kolkata, is not among them. This also takes away the opportunity to host the final, as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are the defending champions.

The Knights have had a not-so-great IPL campaign in 2025. The change in their coaching staff, as compared to their victorious run last year, made them look depleted of ideas. The squad has largely been the same, with a noticeable change in the leadership. The Ajinkya Rahane-led team has been below par this season and finds themselves on the verge of exit. They have failed to find the right playing eleven on the majority of occasions. Their batting has been submissive, and it has usually been their spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, in the bowling department, that has bailed them out from tough situations.  Their star and retained players (Venky Iyer, Andre Russell, and Rinku Singh) have been average this term, and thus, it justifies their current position.

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KKR’s Qualification scenarios for IPL 2025 Playoffs.

Matches Played: 12, Points: 11, NRR: 0.193

Upcoming Matches: Away – RCB (17^th May); Delhi – SRH (25^th May)

Best Possible Finish: 15 points

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are on the brink of elimination as the maximum they can finish with is 15 points. There are already two teams who have more than 15 points, while Punjab Kings (PBKS) are on 15 with three games to go. Assuming that those three teams go through, KKR will have to hope that Mumbai Indians (MI) lose their two remaining matches and stay on 14 points. Since one of their matches is against Delhi Capitals (DC), who are currently on 13 points, that will take DC to 15. 

In this scenario, the fourth spot will come down to a Net Run Rate (NRR) battle between KKR and DC. On the other hand, if PBKS lose their three remaining matches, then MI will go past 15 points, while DC, PBKS, and KKR could all be on 15 points, fighting for the fourth spot. KKR's hopes rest on a lot of factors - fortune above anything.