Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the East Zone side for not going for an outright win against the South Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2026 final. Notably, East Zone was declared the winner on the basis of their first-inning lead.
In his exclusive column for Mid-Day, Gavaskar wrote that both captains, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, settled for a draw earlier than the scheduled end of play, which didn’t go down well with him.
“The disappointing part was that East Zone did not go for an outright win and instead prolonged their second innings unnecessarily. That both skippers agreed to end the game earlier than scheduled also doesn’t sit well. If the game was to be stopped early, then why wasn’t it stopped at lunchtime itself, when it was clear that in the two sessions remaining, South Zone was never going to chase down a score of more than 650 runs,” Gavaskar wrote in his column.
Delving into the details of the game, East Zone was tasked to bat first and they posted a daunting total of 708 in their first innings. In reply, South Zone got bowled out for 336, as East Zone earned a 372-run lead.
However, East Zone batted again and scored 388/7 in their second innings before both sides settled for a draw. It was East Zone’s first Duleep Trophy title in 13 years, with their last title win coming way back in 2012-13. East Zone captain Ishan Kishan ended the campaign as the leading run-scorer with 409 runs from five innings.
