It has been a little shy of two years (713 days to be precise) since the last First-Class match played at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here in Chennai.
It feels only fitting then, that such a red-ball drought comes to an end with the most momentous of occasions when East Zone takes on South Zone in the final of the Duleep Trophy 2026 beginning on Sunday.
The weight of the occasion is palpable. “The moment you reach here and see the hunger and motivation going around the ground, everyone willing to perform or win matches, it just changes the whole scenario,” reflected East Zone skipper Ishan Kishan ahead of the match.
“Especially when it comes to red-ball cricket, the Duleep Trophy is a place where you need to perform, pressure will be there, you are going to enjoy your moments but at the same time when you know the stage is big, you need to keep your nerves calm and play your game.”
For Kishan’s East Zone – which dumped out defending champion Central Zone in the semifinal – it marks a return to the final after 14 years, having last won the zonal competition at this very ground in 2012 in a rain-affected game.
Its run until this point has largely been headlined by two players on opposite ends of the age spectrum and team sheet in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Mohammed Shami.
Sooryavanshi – who will be playing in his first domestic final – managed to translate his thrill-a-minute style to red-ball cricket with a free-flowing 92 in the semifinal. But beneath the youthful exuberance, there were also some signs of evolution in his game as he engaged in a compelling battle with Yash Thakur and made a concerted effort to put a price on his wicket in his final innings.
“Vaibhav is very smart for a 15-year-old boy,” reflected Kishan on his vice-captain. “He’s done a great job until now. He played a very crucial role in the previous match where the wicket was not that good, but he played those extra shots which helped us get that opening partnership which was very important while we were chasing.”
Shami, meanwhile, has showcased a timelessness to his bowling, once again proving too hot to handle with his characteristic seam and swing. The 35-year-old earned his first India A call-up after helping East Zone win its first title back in 2012, and 14 years on, he will play his 100th First-Class match with a point still to prove.
But East Zone’s strength has extended well beyond its headliners.
Sudip Gharami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and Kishan have all found runs when it matters, while seamers Abhijit Sarkar and Mukesh Kumar (who are second and third in the wicket-taking charts respectively) have taken a collective 19 wickets as reward for their metronomic consistency.
Also read | K.L. Rahul will not feature in Duleep Trophy final vs East Zone
South Zone will thus be grateful it can call upon the services of a returning Devdutt Padikkal – who comes into the match on the back of a Player-of-the-Series turn for the national side in Sri Lanka – to counter the threat the East Zone bowling possesses, though KL Rahul misses out.
He joins a South Zone batting lineup that was largely dependent on captain Tilak Varma in its semifinal against North Zone. The 23-year-old may have made his name as a stylish strokemaker in white-ball cricket, but he showcased a meditative level of patience to dig his side out of a hole with a century and fifty in the semifinal against North Zone.
Its bowling has added Mohammed Siraj to replace the injured Vidwath Kaverappa as MD Nidheesh’s partner in navigating the Sooryavanshi challenge. Nidheesh claimed seven wickets in the semifinal, while Kavuri Saiteja also made key breakthroughs in the match.
On the spin front, Shreyas Gopal and Tanay Thyagarajan are expected to feature again, though the proliferation of left-handers through the middle for East Zone makes the prospect of an off-spinner tempting.
But the intrigue of Sunday’s match extends beyond zonal pride. With the number of current and prospective India players in action, performance offers an opportunity to make a booming knock on the door for red-ball selection.
“The domestic circuit is a big change. Just before the World Cup, we saw how Ishan Kishan had done in domestic cricket and that’s why he was back into the World Cup team. The same thing goes to every player, whoever has performed well in domestic can come to the national side, so it is a quite important part for every player,” reflected Tilak.
“If you grind here and if you score here, you are pretty confident in internationals, because with the kind of talent we have got in domestic, it is challenging. If you perform well here, everyone considers it.”
Published on Sep 05, 2026
