Tilak Varma, the 23-year-old left-handed batter, captained South Zone in the Duleep Trophy final at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The tournament ran from August 23 to September 10, 2026, and Varma emerged as the second-highest run-getter with 266 runs across his matches. His performances included scores of 116 not out, 51 not out and 99 in the competition, showcasing his ability to build substantial innings in red-ball cricket.
In the final itself, Varma faced 211 deliveries during South Zone’s reply to East Zone’s first-innings total of 708. East Zone’s captain Ishan Kishan topped the tournament run-scoring charts with 409 runs. South Zone was bowled out for 336 in their first innings, leaving East Zone with a lead of 584 runs, which proved decisive in determining the tournament outcome.
“Playing red-ball cricket for India is my biggest goal because I love red-ball cricket. I thought as a kid, I’ll be playing Test cricket first and after that only white-ball cricket. I’m really keen to play red-ball cricket and let’s see how it goes,” said Tilak as quoted by Cricinfo.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it [red-ball] cricket comes naturally. But I began my professional journey in red-ball cricket and played for many years with the red ball. Over the past few seasons, I’ve played a lot of white-ball cricket, but red ball remains my favourite format – it’s my A game,” he added.
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Varma’s commitment to red-ball cricket
Varma’s ability to bat through extended periods has become a defining feature of his red-ball cricket. In the ongoing Duleep final on the red-soil Chepauk pitch, he played out 211 balls after negotiating 250 balls in his previous match, the Duleep semi-final against North Zone in Bengaluru.
Tilak has faced 250 or more deliveries in an innings only twice in his first-class career, in July 2025 for Hampshire in county cricket and then in the game against North Zone. This demonstrated application and technique against sustained bowling attacks.
“It’s an important knock for me, but at the same point, I was only focused on what the team needed. I could have taken more chances before itself, but the plan was simply to take it session-by-session. Cricket is a funny game – if you can bat out a session and if some other batsman stays with me, I was confident we could take it session-by-session and push for a draw. [But] Unfortunately, we lost wickets, and the result went in their [East’s] favour,” said Tilak.
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Varma’s reflection on the final and South Zone’s approach
Despite his strong batting display in the final, Varma was dismissed for 99. He reflected on the match situation and South Zone’s approach during the innings.
“There has been a lot of learnings. If you see, there are youngsters [in the South Zone squad] and also India A, we’re a young side as well. One game we lost there and again we got back. You have great talent in the team and when you have that talent and eagerness to win, then it’s easier as a captain to win tournaments. So, captaining India A, domestic and again here, there are many [positives] and I’m growing as a captain and enjoying it,” said Tilak.
“Sometimes, conditions won’t always be in your favour, so it’s about how you use your players as a captain. One of the lessons I’ve learned is the importance of understanding your players off the field. When you spend time with your team-mates and know how they think, you can know who can be your [go-to] player under pressure,” he added.
Varma’s first-class record stands at 1729 runs in 24 matches at an average of 55.77, with 8 hundreds and 6 half-centuries since his debut in 2019. Beyond the Duleep Trophy, Varma has played 64 white-ball internationals for India, having made his ODI debut on September 15, 2023, against Bangladesh and his T20I debut on August 3, 2023, against West Indies. He was recently appointed T20I vice-captain, adding another dimension to his international responsibilities.
