Chennai, Sep 10 — South Zone captain Tilak Varma conceded that his side was completely ‘outplayed’ by East Zone in the 2026/27 Duleep Trophy final, admitting that conceding over 700 runs in the first innings virtually sealed the title clash’s outcome at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Thursday.
East Zone piled up a colossal first-innings total of 708, riding on skipper Ishan Kishan's double century, before bundling out South Zone for 325 and eventually secured their third Duleep Trophy crown on the basis of a massive first-innings lead.
The result ended South Zone's bid for back-to-back Duleep Trophy titles, while East Zone lifted the prestigious silverware for the first time since the 2012/13 season. "Honestly, it is disappointing for us, but there have been a lot of learnings in this game, and hopefully we'll come back stronger.
“If you have seen, honestly, the first day we could have done better, but they sealed the game when they scored 700. Everyone knows, like, it is slightly tough chasing 700. But again, credit goes to their batters, how they batted. But again, there were a few phases we could have captured, but we hadn't bowled that great," said Varma, who made 99 in South Zone’s lone innings with the bat, in the post-match presentation ceremony.
South Zone’s primary objective on the final two days was to bat long to keep themselves in the game or force a draw, but East Zone’s bowlers maintained tight lines to keep the pressure on.
"But honestly, we were just thinking to just bat on for the next three days. We had tried our best. If we have played for three days, we never knew we could have scored 700 runs; otherwise the match would have been drawn. But we have tried our best, but again credit goes to them. They have totally outplayed us," added Varma, who also took the Player of the Series award.