Former Indian player Sunil Gavaskar slammed East Zone for not trying to win outright in the 2026 Duleep Trophy final against South Zone as well. Gavaskar also showed his disappointment at the two captains agreeing to end the game earlier than the scheduled close as well. However, East Zone scored an incredible 708 in their first innings, courtesy of the skipper’s brilliant 270. They then bowled South Zone for 336, earning a massive 372-run lead. However, with a first-innings lead ensuring victory, East Zone batted again and played almost 100 overs to score 388/7 in their second innings before both teams mutually called the contest off as well.
Talking about this, Gavaskar said in his column for the Mid Day: “The disappointing part was that East Zone did not go for an outright win and instead prolonged their second innings unnecessarily. That both skippers agreed to end the game earlier than scheduled also doesn’t sit well. If the game was to be stopped early, then why wasn’t it stopped at lunchtime itself, when it was clear that in the two sessions remaining, South Zone was never going to chase down a score of more than 650 runs. It’s a good sign for Indian cricket to see a team with just one big name in batting and one big name in bowling lift the trophy. What it shows is that if a team is well-led and combines well, then they can win matches and trophies.”
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Sunil Gavaskar also believes the concept of a first-innings lead being sufficient for a win at the domestic level cost Team India in Tests on flatter pitches as well. Recently, India struggled to win in the second Test in Sri Lanka despite having the Indian team six down entering Day 5.
“This business of the first innings lead being enough, is one of the main reasons India struggle to take 20 wickets on good pitches. How does a team learn to take 20 wickets if they don’t bowl in two innings in a domestic game? India huffed and puffed on the last day of the second Test in Sri Lanka and couldn’t take the last four wickets for a victory,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.
