Ishan Kishan led East Zone to a stunning Duleep Trophy title after 13 years, with a fine performance against South Zone in the final.
The Duleep Trophy final ended in a draw as East Zone took home the trophy based on a first-innings lead. Captain ishan Kishan smashed 270 to propel them to a mammoth 708 in the first innings. Kumar Kushagra also notched up a brilliant century while Abhimanyu Easwaran (72) and Shikhar Mohan (85) brought up their respective fifties.
In response, South Zone were bundled out for only 336 with captain Tilak Varma fighting a lone battle. He was unfortunate to be dismissed on 99 off 211 deliveries. Devdutt Padikkal did well to muster 62 as South Zone conceded a massive lead of 372. Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar picked up two and three wickets respectively to ensure South weren’t able to build partnerships. Once they conceded the lead, the writing was on the wall for South, even as the East batters extended their dominance in the second innings.
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 🏆
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 10, 2026
Congratulations to the Ishan Kishan-led East Zone on winning their third #DuleepTrophy title 👏👏#EZvSZ | @ishankishan51 pic.twitter.com/u6D4UvOTEp
Kishan was brilliant again, smashing 80 off 98 balls with eight fours and three sixes. Md Kounain Quraishi remained unbeaten on 116 before East declared on 388-7 with a lead of 760, bringing the match to a close. The two teams decided to shake hands, and East took home the Duleep Trophy, thanks to their massive first-innings lead.
Ishan Kishan extends unbeaten streak as captain in first-class cricket
Kishan continued to remain unbeaten as captain in first-class cricket, extending his streak to 16 matches, having won eight and drawn as many. His unbeaten streak is the joint eighth-longest in first-class history, with Mahinda Halangoda topping the list with 30.
Longest unbeaten streak as captain in First-Class cricket history (source: CricViz)
Player | Stint start year | Stint end year | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn |
Mahinda Halangoda | 1989 | 1993 | 30 | 15 | 0 | 15 |
Milind Gunjal | 1978 | 1992 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 |
Taufeeq Umar | 2007 | 2016 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 |
Upul Chandana | 1999 | 2007 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 8 |
Brijesh Patel | 1975 | 1987 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 14 |
Lakshan Edirisinghe | 2022 | 2023 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
Udara Jayasundera | 2011 | 2017 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 11 |
Sachithra Serasinghe | 2012 | 2013 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Ishan Kishan | 2018 | 2026* | 16 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Rajinder Singh Ghai | 1986 | 1988 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
Laxmidas Jal | 1934 | 1941 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
A former U19 World Cup finalist captain, Kishan was appointed Jharkhand skipper in the 2018/19 Ranji Trophy. He led them six times that season before returning for the 2024/25 season as captain for four matches. Now 28, he led Jharkhand thrice in the 2025/26 season, while the oither three games came in the recently concluded Duleep Trophy.
Image Credits: Screengrab from BCCI Domestic/X
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