Duleep Trophy 2026: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was appointed as the East Zone vice-captain for Duleep Trophy 2026. However, there was no less criticism of that decision. Many questioned why the 15-year-old was given the vice-captainship despite having several experienced players in the team. However, Vaibhav is now answering those critics with his intelligent decisions on the field. His one decision at the crucial moment of the final gave East Zone a big success.
Vaibhav asked Ishaan to take the review
South Zone came out to bat on the third day of the Duleep Trophy final. Ricky Bhui and N Jagadeesan started cautiously. In the sixth over, a ball from Mukesh Kumar went past Ricky’s leg and into the hands of the wicketkeeper. The East Zone cricketers immediately applied. But captain Ishan Kishan was not keen on taking DRS then. Just then vice-captain Vaibhav intervened and strongly suggested a review.
Vaibhav’s faith got the wicket
Ishaan finally takes DRS on Vaibhav’s words. And the review proves that Vaibhav’s prediction was absolutely right. The ball didn’t hit Ricky Bhuy’s feet, but went to the wicketkeeper on the edge of the bat. The on-field umpire had to change his decision after the matter became clear with the help of technology. As a result, East Zone picked up the first wicket of South Zone. If Vaibhav hadn’t convinced Ishaan to take up the review, this important opportunity might have been missed. Commentators also praised his decision.
Vaibhav also caught attention with the bat
Not only in leadership decisions, Vaibhav Suryavanshi also caught attention with the bat in the final of the Duleep Trophy. At the beginning of the innings, he formed an important pair with Abhimanyu Ishwaran and brought the East Zone to a good place. Both of them put together a 100-run partnership. In the end, Vaibhav was dismissed for 44 runs. On the other hand, captain Ishan Kishan also performed well with the bat.
Ishan’s double century
Ishan Kishan virtually single-handedly changed the color of the match with the bat in the final. A blazing 270 runs came from his bat. As a result, Ishan became only the third batsman to score a double century for East Zone in the history of Duleep Trophy. Along with Vaibhav and Ishan, Abhimanyu Ishwaran scored 72, Shikhar Mohan 85, Kumar Kushagra 101, Okumal Roy 45 and Mohammad Kounain Qureshi scored 40 runs. The collective performance of the batsmen is the foundation of the East Zone for big scores.
East zone for 708 runs, South under pressure
East Zone scored a huge score of 708 runs in the first innings under the influence of the batters. After coming down to bat, the start of South Zone was not at all as expected. As a result, reducing the huge run gap created by the East Zone is now a big challenge for the Southern team. In the meantime, discussions have started on social media about the DRS decision of Vaibhav. The young vice-captain of East Zone has once again caught the attention of such a mature cricket mind on the field at the age of only 15 years.