East Zone Captain Ishan Kishan leads his team from the front, scoring a century in the Duleep Trophy Final against South Zone. With the help of Ishan's unbeaten 111 runs, East Zone finished the day with 385/4 in 79 overs.
The century was extra special as it came in front of the national Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar. Ishan has openly talked about his ambition to represent India in whites. He has played two Tests for India in his debut series against the West Indies in 2023. Since then, he has been out of the red-ball squad.
The left-handed batter dominated South Zone's bowlers, giving them no respite for the entire innings. Ishan came to the crease after East Zone lost three wickets in the span of 47 runs, following a century partnership between the openers, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
The captain took the charge from the front and steadied East Zone's innings with Shikhar Mohan on the Other end. The duo were looking to score at every opportunity without getting into a shell, and they succeeded too.
Shikhar was racing towards his century, but couldn't get to it as he was sent to the pavilion by left-arm pacer CV Milind.
Ishan-Kushagra And A Century Partnership
He completed his century in the 77th over of the match by scoring a boundary against spinner Shreyas Gopal on the very first ball. Milind bowled a short ball delivery on the second ball of the 53rd over of the match. The ball was pitched on the off-side; Mohan tried playing it on the leg side, but got chopped on, ending the 94-run stand.
Kumar Kushagra came in the middle to help his captain Ishan get things going. Kumar was attacking the bowlers, while Ishan kept the tempo going. Batting in the 90s, Ishan was cautious but not stuck. He kept rotating the strike before getting to his century on the first ball of the 77th over of the match against spinner Shreyas Gopal, by a boundary in front of a packed MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Fans gave him a standing ovation while he removed his helmet and raised his arms to celebrate the century. It was his 10th first-class hundred. Ishan finished the day with 111 runs off 135 balls with the help of 14 fours and two sixes. Kushagra stayed not out till the stumps, scoring 64 runs off just 75 balls.
Abhimanyu And Vaibhav Provides A Good Start
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhimanyu Easwaran were the standout performers as the East Zone made a strong start in the Duleep Trophy final. East Zone captain Ishan Kishan had won the toss and decided to bat first, anticipating some assistance for the fast bowlers during the initial part of the game.
Mohammed Siraj’s first over showed some movement with both seam and bounce, but the East Zone batsmen steadily dismantled the South Zone pace attack.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was aggressive on the off side, while Easwaran was dominant on the leg side.
The aggressive scoring put pressure on South Zone's coach, Tilak, who then decided to bring in five boundary riders from the 8th over.
