Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Told To Learn From Players Like Ishan Kishan: "You Have To Learn How To Play Long Innings"

Raag of the Duleep Final: A Masterclass in Patience

Greetings, cricket lovers. As one who has spent a lifetime studying rhythm and patience—both on the sitar and on the pitch—what I witnessed in Chennai on Monday was nothing short of a musical composition.

Ishan Kishan, batting at No. 5 for East Zone against South Zone, played a captain's knock of monumental proportions: 270 off 334 balls (30x4, 7x6), steering East Zone to a towering 708 all out in 163 overs. This monumental effort made him only the third East Zone batter—joining the legends Arun Lal (287 in 1986) and Saba Karim (unbtd 200 in 1995)—to reach a double century in the Duleep Trophy, and the first East Zone captain-WK to do so in a final. Per Star Sports, he is now the seventh batter overall to score a double hundred in a Duleep final.

The opening stand came via Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who top-edged with 44 off 37. And it was here that commentator Vivek Razdan delivered a note worth remembering for the young batter:

"Sooryavanshi sahab, now you have to learn from players like Ishan Kishan. Once you are set, you must learn how to play a long innings. This is not just technique, not just temperament—this is match fitness. To stand so long in such heat..."

A gentle nudge, delivered with the cadence of a guru.

The defining partnership of the day was the 230-run fifth-wicket stand between Kishan and Kushagra, who had carried their lead forward from Day 1's 385/4. Kushagra brought up his maiden Duleep century—101 off 132 (8x4, 5x6)—before being caught in the deep off Vijay. Kishan, meanwhile, reached his double before retiring hurt on 250. Anukul Roy added a useful 45 (LBW after a review), and Mohammed Shami chipped in 28 before Shreyas Gopal's wicket.

For those who appreciate the alap—the slow, meditative opening of a raga—Kishan's innings was exactly that: patient building, then soaring crescendo. A masterclass in the art of staying.

What do you think, community—can Sooryavanshi learn this patience, or is it a gift?

Source: NDTV Sports