Central Zone batter Yash Rathod narrowly missed out on his maiden first-class double century, finishing on 194 against South Zone in the 2025 Duleep Trophy final.
Rathod was the highest-run scorer in the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy, amassing 960 runs at 53, with five centuries and three fifties. The 25-year-old currently averages over 50 from 20 first-class games, also scoring 87* and 78 against North-East Zone earlier in the Duleep Trophy, before a rare failure against West Zone.
Yash Rathod goes big, again
Batting at five, Rathod put together a 167-run stand with fellow centurion and captain Rajat Patidar. Together, they took the game out of South Zone's reach. Patidar fell for 101, but Rathod continued, stretching his knock into day three and closing in on a double century, helped along by partnerships with Saransh Jain and Deepak Chahar.
It wasn't to be though: on a career-best 194, he was cleaned up by Gurjapneet Singh, as Central Zone's tail crumbled, losing their last four wickets for 11 runs.
Final, South Zone vs Central Zone
vs
- Ball by ball Over
It still meant a 362-run lead, putting them in a comfortable position to end the game as Duleep Trophy winners.
Alongside Gurjapneet, Ankit Sharma also took four wickets, with M Nideesh and Vasuki Koushik taking a wicket apiece.
Rathod was instrumental in Vidarbha's run to the Ranji Trophy title last season: consistent throughout, he went big in the semi-final against Mumbai as well, scoring 54 and 151. With Karun Nair now moving to Karnataka for the upcoming season, Rathod can be expected to bat one spot higher from his designated No.5 position in Vidarbha. There will also be eyes on him, and fellow run-scoring machine Danish Malewar, when Vidarbha take on a Rest of India team in the Irani Cup 2025.
Follow the Duleep Trophy final live score and updates here.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
