East Zone opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played an impactful knock of 44 in the first innings of the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone.
Vaibhav was in full flow, whacking South Zone bowlers to all corners of the park at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Vaibhav was severe against Mohammed Siraj and smashed him for two fours and a six in the over, prompting South Zone captain Tilak Varma to remove him from the attack.
Vaibhav was going all guns blazing and looked set to play another big knock; however, he lost his wicket to Milind Chima, but not before adding a century partnership with Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Tilak Varma tried all tactics to break his momentum and was caught on stump mic sledging the 15-year-old. Tilak could be heard saying, “Kya yaar ye vice-captain (What is this vice-captain)?”
The sledging attempt did not seem too serious as both Vaibhav and Tilak were seen having a laugh, but the fans on social media were not particularly pleased and criticised Tilak for getting under the skin of the youngster. Had Sooryavanshi gone past the fifty-run mark, it would have been his second in two back-to-back games. Sooryavanshi played a whirlwind knock of 92 in the first innings of the semifinal against Central Zone to play a significant role in taking his team to the final. He had also played a brisk innings of 40 in the second innings.
While the eyes were on Sooryavanshi, Abhimanyu Easwaran also put on a show and played a brilliant innings of 72, including 10 fours and a six before being run out. At the time of writing, East Zone had put up a great show with the bat, reaching 272/4.