"It is easy to get distracted with how many points you have" said captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni rather empathetically after Chennai Super Kings' 13-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore in match 49 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
The 40-year-old's words of wisdom may well spread like gospel in a camp battling to find winning answers, but in reality, it's the points that the Chennai Super Kings need now, and lots of luck.
After 10 matches, Chennai Super Kings are nine in the team-team league. They have won three -- two during Ravindra Jadeja's very fickle reign and the third, soon after MS Dhoni's return as the captain.
Their win against Sunrisers Hyderabad gave CSK fans a new belief but it didn't take long for everyone to realise that even with Dhoni at the helm, the defending champions will find it almost impossible to find enough belays to delay an early exit from the tournament.
Here's why:
As things stand, four teams are already on 12 or more points with Gujarat Titans sitting pretty at the top of the pile. The Hardik Pandya-led Titans have 16 points, a cut-off mark for a top-four finish according to many, with eight wins from 10 matches.
Their fellow debutants Lucknow Super Giants are second with 14 points from ten outings, while Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore have 12 each from 10 and 11 matches respectively.
Then there is the ever-dangerous chasing pack.
Both Sunrisers Hyderabad (five wins in nine) and Punjab Kings (five wins in 10) have 10 points each. Delhi Capitals are also still in the mix.
Mumbai Indians are already out of the playoff reckoning, while Kolkata Knight Riders, with four wins from 10, are also having their own worries.
For Chennai Super Kings to make the playoffs, they will need to win their remaining league matches against Delhi Capitals (on May 8), Mumbai Indians (May 12), Gujarat Titans (May 15) and Rajasthan Royals (May 20) by big margins, then hope for some miracle to happen.
Now, the maximum points that Chennai Super Kings can have is 14.
Here's the updated points table (after the RCB vs CSK match):
For his part, Dhoni continued to emphasise that "it is the mistakes and it is the process that matters rather than where you are positioned in the points table." Here, though, they are in a position of no return, at least for this season.
