Skipper Tilak Varma has been the standout player for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy this year.

The Hyderabad batter was instrumental in taking the team to the final, leading from the front with unbeaten knocks of 116 and 51 in the semifinal against North.

In the summit clash, Tilak yet again stood tall, scoring a valiant 99 against East Zone, even if he couldn’t help his team avoid conceding a huge lead.

“It’s an important knock, but at the same time I was only focused on what the team needed. I could have taken more chances before, but the plan was simply to take it session by session,” said Tilak. 

“If some other batter stayed with me, I was confident we [could] have batted through to the end of the day, [and] take it session-by-session till tomorrow and push for a draw. Unfortunately, we lost wickets, and the result went in their favour,” he added.

“A hundred would have been a nice reward for the hard yards I put in the heat, but individual milestones don’t matter as much as the result.”

Though the 23-year-old has quickly been elevated as vice-captain of the T20I side, he reiterated that Test cricket is his ultimate goal.

“I always say to everyone that I want to play red-ball cricket for India. That’s my biggest goal because I really love playing red-ball cricket. As a kid, I thought I’d play Test cricket first and then only white-ball cricket. I’m really keen to play red-ball cricket, and let’s see how it goes,” said Tilak.

Ishan Kishan led from the front with a sprightly unbeaten 111 (135b, 14×4, 1×6) as East Zone amassed 385 for four against South Zone on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final at the MAC Stadium here on Sunday.

The Jharkhand batter built on the efforts of opener Abhimanyu Easwaran (72, 86b, 10×4, 1×6) and No. 3 Shikhar Mohan (85, 120b, 9×4, 3×6) after opting to bat.

While Kishan headlined the day, it was Vaibhav Sooryavanshi who hogged the limelight.

It is not often that you see packed stands for a domestic game in India. Yet, even before the first ball was bowled, the C, D, and E stands at Chepauk were nearly full in anticipation of seeing the wunderkind. And in the first 90 minutes of the day, the youngster kept the fans on their feet through some elegant strokeplay.

The 15-year-old got on his toes nicely to counter the bounce from the red-soil pitch and punched South Zone pacers Mohammed Siraj and M.D. Nideesh to the off-side fence a few times.

And when Siraj went full, Sooryavanshi had no second thoughts about lofting down the ground for a six and a four. The southpaw eventually holed out on the leg-side trying to pull C.V. Milind for 44.

At the other end, Abhimanyu kept pace with the youngster and did not hold himself back, be it pulling Siraj effortlessly or giving the charge to the spinners.

Post lunch, Shikhar and Kishan combined forces, adding 94 for the fourth wicket, capitalising on a below-par effort from the South bowlers.

Shikhar was largely untroubled, confidently driving Siraj for back-to-back boundaries through the off-side before launching off-spinner T. Vijay for a six and two boundaries off consecutive deliveries.

Kishan kept busy without trying to be aggressive, bringing up his half-century off 71 deliveries. In the final session, he pressed on the accelerator and brought up his century in style, driving Shreyas Gopal down the ground majestically.

Alongside his Jharkhand teammate Kumar Kushagra (63 batting, 75b, 4×4, 5×6), the duo added an unbroken 144 runs for the fifth wicket as East established an early hold on the contest.

The scores: East Zone — 1st innings: Abhimanyu Easwaran run out 72, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi c sub (Tanay) b Milind 44, Shikhar Mohan b Milind 85, Sudip Kumar Gharami c Milind b Vijay 6, Ishan Kishan (batting) 111, Kumar Kushagra (batting) 63; Extras (nb-4): 4; Total (for four wkts. in 79 overs): 385.

Fall of wickets: 1-100, 2-133, 3-147, 4-241.

South Zone bowling: Siraj 14-1-96-0, Nidheesh 10-2-39-0, Vijay 22-3-114-1, Milind 13-1-56-2, Shreyas 19-3-77-0, Rasheed 1-0-3-0.

Toss: East.