Former Team India captain Kris Srikkanth slammed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad for his dismal showing with the bat in IPL 2026. The right-hander failed once again in CSK's latest outing against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), falling for 13 off nine balls.Gaikwad's opening partnership with Sanju Samson has failed to take off the entire season, which Srikkanth believes has hampered CSK. While Samson has been brilliant with 450 runs at an average of 50, Gaikwad has scored only 306 runs in 12 innings at an average of under 31.Talking about Ruturaj Gaikwad and his lack of partnerships with Samson, Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel (25:16):"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."The former captain believes the opening partnership was the difference in CSK's loss to LSG, saying:"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."While the Samson-Gaikwad pair added only 31 for the opening wicket, Mitchell Marsh and Josh Inglish added 135 for the first wicket, helping LSG chase down 188 with ease."CSK aren't ruled out yet" - Kris Srikkanth on the IPL 2026 playoffsKris Srikkanth is not ready to write off CSK's playoff chances in IPL 2026 despite their crushing loss to LSG in Lucknow. The massive defeat was CSK's sixth in 12 matches, relegating them to sixth on the points table with two matches remaining."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 (via the aforementioned source).CSK will take on SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their penultimate league-stage game, a near-must-win for both sides. The contest will be played in Chennai on Monday, May 18. SRH are currently third on the points table with seven wins in 12 matches.The two teams met earlier in the season, with SRH coming out on top by 10 runs.