Vaibhav Sooryavanshi reflects on two-wicket spell after East Zone win in Duleep Trophy quarter-final

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi spoke about his two-wicket spell following East Zone’s quarter-final victory over North East Zone in the Duleep Trophy 2026 on 2026-08-29. East Zone completed the match by an innings and 210 runs.

East Zone batted first and posted 467 in their opening innings, with Sudip Gharami scoring 146 and Shahbaz Ahmed contributing 167. North East Zone were dismissed for 111 in their first innings, giving East Zone a lead large enough for captain Ishan Kishan to enforce the follow-on. The visitors struggled again in the second innings and were 63/5 when Kishan brought Sooryavanshi into the attack. Sooryavanshi is listed as the team’s vice-captain while Ishan Kishan led the side.

Introduced when North East Zone were 63/5, Sooryavanshi, described in the report as a left-arm off-spinner, finished with figures of 2/11 from three overs. His wickets came in a short spell that the article says helped East Zone wrap up the contest quickly. The two wickets formed part of East Zone’s dominant bowling display that produced the innings victory.

Commenting after the match, Sooryavanshi addressed the decision to bowl him in that situation and framed it as a calculated risk by the captain. “The opponents weren’t losing wickets, so I was asked to bowl two-three overs. Ishan bhaiya thought that he was taking a risk in giving me the ball. But he didn’t know that I’m a wicket-taker,” Sooryavanshi said with a smile.

Sooryavanshi’s first innings with the bat did not go as planned; when opening for East Zone against North Zone he scored 8 runs off 6 balls and hit two boundaries before being dismissed. That brief batting appearance was the only mentioned batting contribution for him in the report.

East Zone’s win secured their place in the semi-finals of the Duleep Trophy, and the article notes that Sooryavanshi will have the opportunity to showcase his skills again in the semi-final.