Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth has once again come out in criticism of Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. Srikkanth's comments came after CSK's loss to the Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow on Friday.
The loss has now left CSK needing to win both of their remaining league stage matches with a good net run rate in order to avoid being eliminated in the league stage for the third IPL season in a row.
Mitchell Marsh's almost-century puts CSK on the brink of elimination
The Lucknow Super Giants have already been eliminated from playoffs contention in IPL 2026, and on Friday, they were basically a team with nothing to lose.
Left-arm pacer Akash Singh, playing his first match this season, dismissed each of CSK's top three batters within the first eight overs. Kartik Sharma and Dewald Brevis put up 70 for the fourth wicket, and Sharma got to his half-century before being dismissed for 71.
Shivam Dube and Prashant Veer came together in the last four overs, but it wasn't until the last over, which went for 23 runs, that they could leave an impact.
Mitchell Marsh took it upon himself to chase the target of 187 runs all by himself. He made excellent use of the fielding restrictions to bring up a 21-ball fifty within the powerplay itself. He was particularly severe on Anshul Kamboj, hitting the Haryana bowler for 28 runs in the fifth over, including four sixes in a row.
Josh Inglis was unusually slow, but played an excellent second-fiddle to Marsh as the two Australians put up 135 for the first wicket. Unfortunately, both of them were out in the twelfth over of the chase.
Inglis holed out off Mukesh Choudhary. On the very next ball, Marsh was run out backing up too much at the non-strikers' end to be dismissed for 90 runs off 38 balls.
All the damage was done by then. With LSG needing 24 runs in 24 balls, Kamboj was brought back to bowl, and Nicholas Pooran hit him for four sixes in a row again to give LSG a consolation win.
Also Read: Anshul Kamboj becomes the worst bowler in IPL history? This shocking stat proves it
"Ruturaj Gaikwad has been ordinary all season" - Kris Srikkanth
Kris Srikkanth once again took to his YouTube channel and this time reserved criticism for CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Srikkanth laid into Gaikwad and his opening partner, Sanju Samson, for failing to provide any substantial starts as a duo. He also blasted their poor performance against LSG on Friday.
"Sanju and Ruturaj have not had a single standout partnership the whole season. Openers are the key to success. Gaikwad has been ordinary the entire season," Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
"Sanju, after the first over, made a mess of things, as did Ruturaj Gaikwad. They never gave Sanju drivable balls. Both got tucked in by the LSG bowlers. Though Inglis didn't score much, it was his partnership with Marsh that made a telling difference," he added.
On Friday, Samson made 20 runs in 20 balls while Ruturaj Gaikwad made just 13 runs from 9 balls.
CSK's playoff chances and next matches
Srikkanth also went on to comment on the chances of Ruturaj Gaikwad's men qualifying for the playoffs this year.
"CSK aren't ruled out yet. Everyone hyped up PBKS at the start of the season. But they are struggling now and are in a precarious situation. RR have benefited the most from PBKS' fall and this CSK defeat. SRH are also coming off a terrible defeat. So both teams will play that game with a lot of tension," said Srikkanth.
Ruturaj Gaikwad will be expected to put in a strong performance in CSK's next two matches. The 2023 champions will essentially need to win both matches and improve their net run rate in order to qualify for the playoffs.
CSK will play Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai on May 18, and Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on May 21.
