CHENNAI: CSK are well and truly staring at the unthinkable — three back-to-back seasons of non-qualification to the IPL playoffs. The defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Monday has left the five-time champions on the cusp of elimination, whereby a win against Gujarat Titans on Thursday may not be enough.While CSK have been extremely unlucky with injuries this season, one of the most important reasons behind their struggle has been the poor batting form and belowpar captaincy of Ruturaj Gaikwad. He has looked so off-the-boil that many feel Sanju Samson, a proven captain, is far better suited in a leadership role in CSK than Gaikwad at the moment.Gaikwad, who led the team for five games last year before being injured, took over complete control this time around, including the choice of players from the auction. But everything has gone wrong for the right-hander, who chose to open the batting with Sanju.Ruturaj, whose career IPL strike-rate is 135.33, has gone at 120.68 this year, which has been one of the reasons behind CSK consistently losing the batting Powerplays despite occasional whirlwind starts by Samson. Coach Stephen Fleming tried to defend his skipper, but he, too, acknowledged that the 29-year-old “can do more”. “He’s done more in the past, he’s been a fine player at the top. He hasn’t produced the quantity of runs at the pace that he’s done in his career, and that’s something that he will address,” Fleming said.
