Ishan Kishan battled humid conditions to construct a monumental 270, reminding the selectors of his red-ball credentials and propelling East Zone to a mammoth 708 on the second day of the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone on Monday. Kumar Kushagra too struck his sixth first-class hundred (101, 132b), providing a shining support act to Kishan’s epic knock, which spanned 522 minutes and 334 balls across nearly two days.
Duleep Trophy Final: Ishan Kishan’s 270 Hailed As “One Of The Greatest Ever” As East Zone Score 708
Unfortunately, he could not join the elite club of batters who have scored triple hundreds in the Duleep Trophy, namely Raman Lamba (1987) and Gagan Khoda (2001), but that does not take any sheen off his knock. South Zone will start afresh on the third day after claiming the final East Zone wicket in the closing minutes of the day. But the most compelling story of the day was Kishan’s effort, which came in the presence of three national selectors.
Kishan’s first hundred, which came on the opening day, arrived in 122 balls, but he took 148 balls to reach his second hundred. The second first-class double hundred of his career came in 270 balls when he drilled part-time spinner Devdutt Padikkal through the covers for a boundary. He raced from 200 to 250 in just 31 balls. Kishan blasted 94 runs off 100 balls against Shreyas, while Vijay leaked 70 runs from 88 balls, underlining the left-hander’s domination of the spinners. As it was on the first day, pulls and drives remained his primary run-scoring shots, accounting for 22 fours. Eventually, exhaustion gripped his body, and Kishan had to walk off after making 250 off 301 balls, with 27 fours and seven sixes. The Kishan show helped East Zone pile up 106 runs in the first session and another 135 in the session after lunch. By then, Kishan had added 230 runs with Kushagra for the fifth wicket in just 290 balls and 140 with Anukul Roy (40, 86b) for the sixth wicket, further distancing South Zone from the match. The 21-year-old brought up his hundred in 128 balls, with eight fours and five sixes, but could not extend his innings. However, the landmark never arrived, as Kishan hit Vijay (4/180) straight into the hands of Ravichandran Smaran near the sightscreen.
There was something very Virender Sehwag -esque about his innings: the dazzling warmth, the effortless yet brutal acceleration, and the innate canniness to not squander the benevolence of the conditions. The slowdown was not forced by an exceptional spell or a challenging pitch but was instead a deliberate attempt to wear down the bowlers and give his side the best chance of posting a total well beyond the opponents’ reach. The only time he looked uncomfortable was when left-arm pacer CV Milind struck him on the abdomen, requiring quick medical attention. But the self-imposed restraint on his batting came off soon after he went past the double century. Spinners Shreyas Gopal and Tripurana Vijay suffered the most in this Easterly Jet Stream, getting carted for two sixes each. For the second day in succession, the South Zone bowlers, particularly lead pacer Mohammad Siraj, failed to make any impression, blunted by a placid pitch and batting of rare calibre. Kushagra too was impressive in his own right, flaying the bowlers on both sides of the wicket in a display of fluent batsmanship. The right-hander’s rather casual pull off a short delivery from Vijay ended in Milind’s hands behind square leg. But Kishan returned to haunt South Zone soon after Mohammad Shami was dismissed in the early minutes of the final session, moving closer to a maiden triple hundred. But by then, he had already done his job.
