Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and South Zone captain Tilak Varma were involved in a heated exchange during the Duleep Trophy 2026-27 final in Chennai, with the umpires stepping in to separate the two players.
The incident occurred during the 11th over of East Zone’s first innings. What began as an exchange of words, with Varma sledging the young batter over his vice-captaincy, escalated into a tense confrontation before the umpire intervened.
What happened between Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Tilak Varma?
Varma had been talking to Sooryavanshi throughout the over and appeared to be sledging the East Zone batter.
“What, man, this vice-captain,” Varma was heard saying.
The exchange then became more heated, with Varma moving towards Sooryavanshi and making a gesture that appeared to mimic a punch. Sooryavanshi did not back away and confronted the South Zone captain before the umpire stepped between the players to diffuse the situation.
The confrontation did not escalate further and play subsequently continued.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hits 44 in Duleep Trophy final
The exchange came during an aggressive innings from Sooryavanshi, who had already made an impact with the bat.
The 15-year-old shared a 100-run opening partnership with Abhimanyu Easwaran and scored 44 off 37 balls, hitting five fours and a six.
His innings ended when Chama Milind induced a top edge as Sooryavanshi attempted to play a big shot against a short delivery. Tanay Thyagarajan ran in from deep square leg and completed the catch at mid-wicket.
Sooryavanshi’s dismissal denied him another half-century, but his attacking approach continued the form he had shown in the semi-final, where he scored 92 and 40.
The Duleep Trophy final is also one of Sooryavanshi’s final domestic assignments before he joins the Indian team for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. India are scheduled to play the opening match on September 13 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.