Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for Test Cricket? Teenager tears into Mohammed Siraj in Duleep Trophy final

Teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed the living daylights out of the South Zone pacers on Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy final. Opening the innings for the East Zone alongside Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sooryavanshi dominated the first innings and put the fast bowlers to the sword.

Vaibhav was particularly punishing against Mohammed Siraj, who recently returned from the Sri Lanka Test series. Vaibhav smashed Siraj for two fours and a six in the 7th over, putting the premiership fast bowler under intense pressure.

Duleep Trophy Final Live: East Zone vs South Zone Day 1 Updates

Vaibhav’s first boundary of the over came over deft point where he guided the ball past the fielder for a four. The teenager was merciless with his next delivery and smashed Siraj for a six right around him on the very next ball. After putting Siraj under pressure in the first three balls, Vaibhav capped the over with another lofted strike over mid-off to take 14 runs off the pacer.

Vaibhav played one of his most comprehensive innings in the Duleep Trophy final on Day 1, respecting most of the balls in the first few overs. The batter started to loosen up once he realized the pitch wasn’t going to help the fast bowlers much.

Vaibhav’s measured onslaught saw him reach 40 runs in the first hour of play. The attack spooked South Zone skipper Tilak Varma, who put up five boundary runners in the 8th over of the match itself.

Vaibhav’s attack also gave confidence to his partner Abhimanyu Easwaran, who pulled Siraj down for back-to-back fours in the 9th over of the match. Easwaran pulls Mohammed Siraj for a four. (PTI photo)

In his first spell, Siraj gave away 41 runs from five overs.

Vaibhav looked close to a fifty in the first innings of the final but lost a wicket to CV Milind. The left-arm fast bowler aimed a short ball at Vaibhav and the batsman finished with his pull shot to deep, where substitute Thyagarajan took a safe catch.

But by then the East Zone had already set up their attack against their opponents in Chennai.

SHOULD VAIBHAV BE DESIGNATED FOR TEST CRICKET?

Sooryavanshi and Abhimanyu Easwaran added 100 runs for the first wicket on a pitch that was expected to help the pacers in the first hour. The partnership rocked the South Zone, which lined up in defensive fields for almost the entire morning part of the first day.

Vaibhav keeps promising the red ball format. In his 10 first-class matches, the young left-hander scored 347 runs at a strike rate of 23. While the numbers are modest, it should be noted that he only made his first-class debut in 2024, while he is still playing Youth Test matches around the world.

Former India head coach Rahul Dravid recently hoped that Vaibhav would switch to the Test side soon, saying that it would make the format really exciting.

Meanwhile, Abhimanyu Easwaran continued to bat well after Sooryavanshi’s dismissal and scored 72 runs before being dismissed in a run-out. At the end of the first session, East Zone scored 133 runs for the loss of two wickets in 27 overs.

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Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

06 Sep 2026 13:34 IST