India, March 31 -- Chennai Super Kings opener Rahul Tripathi came under the scanner after a poor start to the Indian Premier League season. The right-handed batter has scored just 30 runs in three matches and failed to make any impact at the top of the order. Tripathi was signed by CSK for INR 3.40 Crore at the mega auction, and the management made the big call by playing him as an opener over skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has demoted himself to number 3. The 34-year-old registered back-to-back single-dig scores - 2 and 5 in the first two matches; he did show some resilience against the Royals with his 19-ball 23, but CSK suffered a second loss on a trot.

Veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh, who played for CSK in the past, was critical ...