Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Devdutt Padikkal and Tilak Varma will be eager to amplify their recent red ball gains while Mohammed Siraj will look to rediscover his rhythm ahead of some important assignments when East Zone face South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final in Chennai from Sunday. Padikkal exploited his fortuitous entry into the Indian team, courtesy an injury to Sai Sudharsan, for the recent Test series against Sri Lanka to the hilt. The Karnataka batter returned home with two hundreds in as many Tests and a Player of the Series award to boot with.
It will certainly help his side regain the title after 2023, but such an effort will further boost Padikkal’s claim for a longer run at No. 3. East Zone’s Sooryavanshi made a 92 and 40 in the semifinal against Central Zone to state that his game has more contours to it than smashing sixes at will in white ball format. His last match for India was the Champions Trophy final in March 2025.
Now, he will be hoping to replicate that performance for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final. Ishan Kishan will lead East Zone, and he will be looking forward for some valuable game time before joining the India squad for the T20I series against Afghanistan next week. But Shami, who was felicitated by the Cricket Association of Bengal, is far from disheartened. However, it will be a fascinating sight over the next five days to watch some accomplished cricketers trying to channelise individual goals for teams’ benefits.
