Vice Captain Kya: Rattled Tilak Varma sledges Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in Duleep Trophy final

Devastated Tilak Varma resorted to sledding teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy final. Up against the rampaging opening duo of Vaibhav and Abhimanyu Easwaran, Tilak lost his cool for a while and started chirping at Vaibhav around the tenth over of the match.

Tilak tried desperately to break Vaibhav’s concentration, who put Mohammed Siraj to the sword a few turns back. When his fast bowlers failed against the East Zone openers, Tilak went to Vaibhav’s face to dress him.

However, Tilak could only muster, “Kya, are you the vice-captain?” before leaving the lefty.

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

The sledging seemed to have little effect on the flow of runs as Vaibhav and Easwaran continued their measured onslaught on the South Zone bowlers. Easwaran raced to his fifty in the 14th over and secured his milestone in just 46 balls.

Vaibhav also looked good after his half-century but eventually fell in the 16th over against a short ball from left-arm paceman CV Milind.

But by then the tone of the match had been set. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhimanyu Easwaran added 100 runs in the first 15 overs, on a pitch where they were expected to be alert in the first hour of play.

VAIBHAV, EASWARAN DOMINATE

East zone captain Ishan Kishan won the toss earlier and opted to bat first in the Duleep Trophy final. He expected good help for the fast bowlers in the first hour of the game.

Mohammed Siraj’s first over had signs of seam and bounce but the East Zone batsmen methodically smashed the South Zone attack. While Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was punishing on the offside, Abhimanyu Easwaran dominated on the leg side.

The onslaught forced Tilak to set up five boundary runners from the 8th over, a tactic not usually seen in red-ball cricket. South Zone Defensive Fields in Duleep Trophy Final Day 1. (Screengrab: Jiostar)

However, South managed to dismiss both the batsmen in the first over, with Vaibhav getting to the short ball and Easwaran getting out due to a mix-up on the field with batsman S Mohan.

At the end of the first session, East Zone had 133 runs for the loss of two wickets.

– The end

Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

06 Sep 2026 13:59 IST