Former Indian captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has lashed out at the East Zone for their unwillingness to go for an outright win against the South Zone in the just-concluded Duleep Trophy 2026 final.
Writing his exclusive column for Mid-Day, Gavaskar expressed his disappointment at both captains, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, for agreeing to settle for a draw earlier than the scheduled end of play.
East Zone, batting first, posted an imposing total of 708 in their first innings, courtesy of the skipper’s excellent 270. In reply, South Zone got bowled out for 336, as East Zone earned a massive 372-run lead.
Despite bagging a huge lead, East Zone batted again and scored 388/7 in their second innings before both sides settled for a draw. However, East Zone was declared the winner based on their first-innings lead.
“The disappointing part was that East Zone did not go for an outright win and instead prolonged their second innings unnecessarily. That both skippers agreed to end the game earlier than scheduled also doesn’t sit well. If the game was to be stopped early, then why wasn’t it stopped at lunchtime itself, when it was clear that in the two sessions remaining, South Zone was never going to chase down a score of more than 650 runs,” Gavaskar wrote in his column.
It was East Zone’s first Duleep Trophy title in 13 years, with their last title win coming way back in 2012-13. 15-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi starred for East Zone as vice-captain, becoming the youngest player to score a Duleep Trophy half-century.
On the other hand, Ishan Kishan concluded the campaign as the leading run-scorer with 409 runs from five innings at an average of 102.25, with 45 fours and 11 sixes.
