Vijay Hazare Trophy | Decision to open with spin in final was justified, says M Senthilnathan

On a Chinnaswamy wicket that offered pace, bounce and assistance for the pacers, Tamil Nadu, defending 252, went with the baffling option of opening with spin from both ends. While both Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin did have decent success earlier in the tournament, opening the bowling, it was always going to be a monumental task to contain the explosive Karnataka batters up-front and sadly for them and TN, the move backfired.

The Karnataka duo of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal latched onto TN's opening spin duo of Ashwin and Sundar, scoring 62 runs off their 8 overs and in the process, sealing the game. However, Tamil Nadu's Chairman of selectors M. Senthilnathan has come forward and defended his side's tactics to open with spin, stating that they stuck to a plan that worked for them in the past and that they have their limitations with pace.

“We have had considerable success with spinners bowling upfront in the other games. Our strength is spin," Senthilnathan told Sportstar.

"It is not as if we have pacemen bowling at 140 kmph. We have our limitations with pace. That is why Dinesh began with spin. And Washington got a wicket too,” he added.

Ashwin, who bizarrely walked in to bat at number three, ended up bowling just two overs and Senthilnathan believes that rain might have hampered skipper Dinesh Karthik's plans, who would have arguably thrown the ball to Ashwin in the latter stages of the match. He also noted that the run-out of Baba Aparajith was the turning point of the match, handing Karnataka the momentum.

“It is hard to predict when the rain will arrive. Perhaps, Dinesh would have wanted Ashwin to bowl in the later stages of the innings. 

"After that (Baba Aparajith's run out) we slumped and lost momentum," Senthilnathan opined.

But despite the crushing defeat in the final, Senthilnathan was pleased with the overall team effort, which saw several individuals contributing en route to the final. He also lavished praise on veteran Karthik for leading the team from the front.

“He’s (Dinesh Karthik) the best we have to lead, has the experience and is respected by all. This has been a good tournament for us. Aparajith batted well, so did Abhinav . Washington showed his all-round process and Shahrukh was a revelation with his hitting. In all, it was a team effort.”