Led by Ishan Kishan, East Zone clinched the Duleep Trophy 2026 with a massive first-innings lead over South Zone.
The writing was already on the wall at the end of the fourth day itself, when East Zone went to stumps on 212/5, a mammoth 584 runs ahead. Most of day five was spent further grinding the South Zone bowlers into dust, as East Zone refrained from an overnight declaration.
Kumar Kushagra, the centurion from the first innings, could only add 12 to his score, as South Zone’s pacers found some nip under the overcast skies. Mohammed Siraj hit the right notes, but Md Kounain Quraishi, at No.7, held one end to ensure there was no sudden collapse. The Jharkhand all-rounder, playing just his second first-class match, found company in Anukul Roy, who switched gears with ease, hitting a couple of sixes in a Tripurana Vijay over.
Desperate for a breakthrough, South Zone burnt all their reviews by the 76th over, and by Lunch, both Quraishi and Roy had settled in for the long haul, unbeaten on 76* and 37* respectively.
Spin was pressed into action after the break, but it did little to deter them. Roy comfortably ticked off a half-century, while Quraishi marshalled along, eventually reaching his maiden first-class century. He celebrated it by clubbing Vijay for back-to-back sixes, taking the lead past 750.
Roy was dismissed in the 99th over, bringing an end to a 150-run stand. The next over, Kishan declared, leading to handshakes and East Zone’s third Duleep title.
It was an extension of Kishan’s success at the domestic level as skipper, having won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season. There was a significant Jharkhand imprint in the Duleep win, with Kushagra, Quraishi and Shikhar Mohan all being among the runs.
Kishan was adjudged Player of the Match for his match aggregate of 350 (the highest aggregate in a Duleep Trophy game), while Tilak Varma, the opposition captain, earned the Player of the Series award. Varma later expressed disappointment at not performing better on the opening day, which eventually led to East Zone piling on a 708-run first innings lead. Kishan cheekily said that he had been a “good leader,” calling his time away from the Indian team a “transformation” for him to be calmer and more aware of situations, while continuing to be hungry.
It ended up being the third-highest aggregate in any Duleep Trophy game, extending Kishan’s unbeaten run as first-class captain to 16 games.
Brief Scores: East Zone 708 (Ishan Kishan 270, Kumar Kushagra 101; Tripurana Vijay 4-180) & 388/7 (Md Kounain Quraishi 116*, Ishan Kishan 80; MD Nidheesh 2-28) drew with South Zone 336 (Tilak Varma 99, Devdutt Padikkal 62; Mukesh Kumar 3-62). East Zone won the match on first innings lead.
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