East Zone Triumphs in Duleep Trophy Final: Kishan Shines with 270
In the afterglow of a title win, some teams pose with the trophy, some break into song. East Zone found its heartbeat in a teasing, laughing exchange between a star India international and a 15-year-old deputy who already walks like a leader.
The Duleep Trophy 2026/27 final in New Delhi will be remembered on paper for Ishan Kishan’s numbers: more than 350 runs across two innings, a towering 270 in the first dig, Player of the Match in a commanding East Zone triumph over South Zone. On the field, he was ruthless. Off it, he was all mischief.
The moment the cameras came on, the captain pointed at his young understudy, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and went straight for the running joke in the East dressing room: who really nailed the DRS calls?
“Yeh sab review mein credit le hi liya hai har jagah,” Kishan laughed in the BCCI video, accusing the teenager of walking off with all the praise every time a review went their way. Kishan explained how he would be ready to go upstairs, only for Sooryavanshi to stride in confidently and front the call. The internet, Kishan said, would then explode with one name: “Vaibhav! My goodness! Vaibhav is the one!”
The captain delivered the punchline with a grin, but there was a clear respect under the banter. “Bohot acche se isne woh kaarya nibhaya hai,” he added, happy to admit his deputy had handled the responsibility superbly.
Sooryavanshi, unfazed, hit back instantly. If Kishan was going to talk reviews, he wanted the full story out there. “Aur jab field ke bahar jaa rahe the tab kon le raha tha review? Yeh bhi toh bata dijiye!” he shot back, reminding everyone that he was the one making the calls as they walked off too.
The exchange said plenty about the atmosphere inside the East Zone camp. No hierarchy, no fear. Just a teenager comfortable enough to poke fun at a senior India cricketer who had just played one of the great domestic final knocks.
Kishan, still smiling, shifted quickly from comedy to appraisal. He called Sooryavanshi a “future captain, maybe” and then broadened it beyond cricketing skill. For him, the kid’s biggest strength was not just his game, but his care for the group.
“It’s very good to have him in the team because more than a very good player, he’s a very nice boy who takes care of each and every one in the team, whether it’s a junior player or senior,” Kishan said, before catching himself and playfully correcting the “junior” tag. “Achha, junior toh tu hi hua, sorry, sorry.”
That little slip, and the quick apology, summed up how fast Sooryavanshi is growing in that dressing room. In age he is still a schoolboy. In presence, he is already one of them.
Kishan did not stop there. He pushed the bar higher, almost setting a challenge for the teenager’s career. “Hopefully, he'll be more dangerous than what he is today,” he said, confident that this performance would be neither a first nor a last of its kind. “I think he's gonna play many more like this, and he'll keep performing the way he's doing right now.”
If Kishan’s words felt like a blessing, Sooryavanshi’s response carried the awe of a youngster who has just watched a senior pro bend a final to his will.
“The way we were off the field and the way we were enjoying inside, it was a lot of fun,” the 15-year-old said, before turning to the innings that changed everything. “The way he batted in the final, it was unbelievable. I can't say anything much about it.”
He did manage one crucial line, though. “I think the match changed from there,” he admitted, acknowledging how Kishan’s 270 had ripped the contest away from South Zone. For a lot of players in that side, he pointed out, this was not their first experience under Kishan’s leadership. That familiarity showed. “As a captain, a lot of people have been watching and playing under him for a long time. It was a lot of fun to play in his captaincy. We enjoyed a lot.”
The joy became the final theme of the conversation. After all the numbers, all the reviews, all the talk of future captaincy, Kishan circled back to something simpler.
“The most important thing is to enjoy,” he said. “The result is not in our hands, but to enjoy as a team is very important.” Then, catching himself again with a chuckle, he added, “Sorry, the result is in our hands right now, but it's very important to enjoy.”
A captain with a double-ton, a teenager with a sharp tongue and sharper cricket brain, and a trophy in the cabinet. For East Zone, the Duleep Trophy final delivered more than a title. It may just have revealed the spine of their future.
