The playoffs (semifinals in the first three editions) of an IPL have been a significant phase in any IPL edition. This stage will have four teams standing after the league stage gets over. From here on, the tournament proceeds to get done quickly and the new champions get decided fast. We will now have a look at teams getting qualified to playoffs the most.
1. Chennai Super Kings
When it comes to qualifying for playoffs, Chennai Super Kings is the most consistent team. This is one aspect where Chennai Super Kings have been dominating. Before their 13th season in 2020, Chennai had qualified for playoffs in all the 10 seasons they played. Chennai Super Kings are second to Mumbai Indians in terms of titles won. Chennai Super Kings qualified for the playoffs 11 times in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
2. Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians have been the team to win most IPL trophies. They have won it 5 times. They have been a consistent team across seasons for years. Mumbai Indians qualified for the playoffs 9 times in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.
3. Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore have always blown hot and cold regarding playoffs. They qualify for a bunch of years and almost get eliminated in league stage in next bunch of years. They have been a solid unit and qualified for playoffs and even finals quite a few times. The title triumph is eluding them though. Royal Challengers Bangalore qualified for the playoffs 8 times in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
4. Kolkata Knight Riders
Kolkata Knight Riders at the early years were finding difficulties in qualifying to playoffs but later on since Gautam Gambhir took up captaincy, they started qualifying for playoffs consistently. Kolkata Knight Riders won the title twice and also ended up as runners up once. Kolkata Knight Riders qualified for the playoffs 7 times in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
5. Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad is a franchise that has been in existence since 2013. They had come in to replace Deccan Chargers. They qualified for playoffs right in their first season. They were the champions in 2016 and were consistently qualifying for playoffs since then. Sunrisers Hyderabad qualified for the playoffs 6 times in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
6. Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals used to be Delhi Daredevils till 2018. Though they started strongly early on, reaching playoffs thrice in first five years and finishing league stage at top in two of them, they quickly started misfiring and it was one elimination upon another till 2018 after which they qualified for playoffs thrice successively. Delhi Capitals qualified for the playoffs 6 times in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
7. Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royals was the champions of the IPL in the inaugural edition defeating Chennai Super Kings in the finals. Since then, however, their journey in the IPL has been a bumpy ride, mostly exiting after league stage, or reaching third or fourth place at best. They finally reached the finals again in 2022 but lost the match. Rajasthan Royals qualified for the playoffs 5 times in 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2022.
8. Deccan Chargers
Deccan Chargers was an early IPL team which was present only for the first five seasons. During the time they were present though, they managed to win the IPL once, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore closely in the finals. Deccan Chargers qualified for the playoffs 2 times in 2009 and 2010.
9. Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings was Kings XI Punjab back then. In the inaugural season, they came second in points table but lost to Chennai Super Kings in the semifinals and crashed out. Meanwhile, in 2014 season, they topped the table and reached the finals but lost a close match in the finals to Kolkata Knight Riders. Punjab Kings qualified for the playoffs 2 times in 2008 and 2014.
10. Gujarat Lions
When Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were banned for two years, two new teams Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants were brought in to fill their places for the two years. Gujarat Lions was captained by Suresh Raina. Right in their first season, they had a terrific league stage, winning 9 out of 14 matches and finished at the top of the points table. However, they lost both the Qualifiers and couldn’t qualify for the finals Gujarat Lions qualified for the playoffs 1 time in 2016.
