The East Zone finally got over the line. After almost 14 years, the team formed from the eastern associations of India lifted the prestigious Duleep Trophy
title.
Led by Ishan Kishan, East Zone saw off South Zone in the final. Although the match ended in a draw, the boys from the East were crowned champions for a lead in the first innings.
Kishan led from the front. The southpaw scored a gigantic 270 in the first innings, which was instrumental for the team. And then in the second, he added 80 more runs to ensure the championship.
And after the outstanding victory, MyKhel caught up with East Zone selector Manish Wardhan. The former first-class cricketer from Dhanbad was one of the selectors for the team selection, and he says appointing Ishan as captain came after a long dialogue.
"We had a long discussion before picking Ishan Kishan as captain. And appointing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as vice-captain also worked, as he did exceedingly well. Vaibhav is the next generation of Indian cricket, and we wanted to give him the extra responsibility. "
'Ishan Kishan can be the next India Test Captain'
Kishan's leadership was quite commendable, as was his batting. There have been instances across the competition where Kishan has improvised, using his instincts to yield positive results. And Wardhan believes he can be the next India Test captain.
"Ishan Kishan has become so mature, be it white ball or red ball cricket. The way Ishan has made his comeback is amazing, and now I believe he is capable to represent team India in red-ball cricket. Not just that, I think he can be the captain of the Indian Test team. You can see how Ishan is extracting the best out of all players, that's the calibre of a top captain. "
Selection of Md Kounain Quraishi
There were questions regarding the sudden selection of Mohammed Kounain Quraishi, who was roped into the East Zone squad from the semis despite not being initially in the squad. Wardhan says it was all about team combination as Shahbaz Ahmed got injured after the quarter-finals.
"Shahbaz's injury made us short. Team management wanted an off-spinner in the semis as the other team (Central Zone) had a few left-handed batters. So we unanimously went for Kounain, who has been with the India emerging sides recently and has done well in the Jharkhand T20 tournament. It is great to see him performing and contributing to the team's win. "
