East Zone are Duleep Trophy champions again after a 13-year wait, and the final was shaped by one extraordinary innings from captain Ishan Kishan.
The match against South Zone in Chennai ended in a draw, but East Zone won the title on the basis of a massive first-innings lead.
The 270 that broke the final open
Kishan made 270 in East Zone’s first innings, occupying the crease for more than eight hours and turning the match into a test of survival for South Zone.
His innings contained 30 fours and seven sixes and helped East Zone pile up 708.
South Zone could not get close
South Zone replied with 336, leaving East Zone with a 372-run first-innings advantage.
Once that gap was established, the final’s basic equation changed. South Zone needed something extraordinary to reverse the result because a drawn match would hand the trophy to the team with the first-innings lead.
East Zone kept batting anyway
East Zone reached 388 for seven in their second innings, extending the overall lead to 760 before the match ended in a draw.
Mohammad Kounian Quraishi made an unbeaten 116, his maiden first-class century, while other batters continued to grind South Zone’s bowlers down.
Shami’s 100th first-class match
The title also carried a milestone for Mohammed Shami, who was playing his 100th first-class match. His presence gave East Zone experience in a side that also included some of Indian cricket’s most closely watched young players.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi adds another chapter
Teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was part of the championship side, adding another high-profile achievement to a rapidly growing domestic résumé.
Why Kishan’s innings matters beyond the trophy
Kishan has spent significant time outside India’s senior Test setup. A 270 in a major domestic final is therefore more than a trophy-winning score; it is a reminder to national selectors of what he can do in a long-format innings.
He did not simply attack. He batted time, managed heat and fatigue, and showed the kind of concentration that is often the first question asked about an aggressive wicketkeeper-batter in red-ball cricket.
Bottom line
East Zone’s title was a team achievement, but finals are remembered through defining performances. For the 2026 Duleep Trophy, the number that will follow the result is 270 — the innings that gave East Zone a lead South Zone never had a realistic chance to erase.
Source: The Indian Express
