Kishan and 15-year-old deputy trade playful jibes after East Zone's Duleep Trophy triumph

Ishan Kishan and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi shared a memorable, light-hearted moment after East Zone's triumphant Duleep Trophy 2026/27 final campaign, and the exchange has since gone viral on social media. Kishan, who captained East Zone in the final against South Zone, engaged in a fun debate with his 15-year-old deputy over who should take credit for the successful DRS calls during the match.

A captain's knock and a teenager's confidence

Kishan enjoyed a memorable final, scoring more than 350 runs across the two innings — including a stunning 270 in the first innings — and was named Player of the Match. Yet it was his easy rapport with Sooryavanshi that stole the show in the aftermath.

"Yeh sab review mein credit le hi liya hai har jagah. Bhale main lene waala tha review, but aake mast bol deta tha main aapke paas aa jaata hu. Phir toh internet will be like: Vaibhav! My goodness! Vaibhav is the one! Toh bohot acche se isne woh kaarya nibhaya hai."

— Ishan Kishan, joking that Sooryavanshi had taken all the credit for the DRS reviews everywhere, even though the captain was the one initially slated to take them.

Sooryavanshi was quick to fire back, reminding his captain of the reviews during the trip back off the field:

"Aur jab field ke bahar jaa rahe thе tab kon le raha tha review? Yeh bhi toh bata dijiye!"

— Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

High praise for a young leader

Kishan then turned serious, praising the teenager's leadership qualities and suggesting Sooryavanshi could have a bright future as a captain.

"Haan, that was Vaibhav himself! Yes. Future captain, maybe? Let's see how it goes. But it's very good to have him in the team because more than a very good player, he's a very nice boy who takes care of each and every one in the team, whether it's a junior player or senior."

Kishan then jokingly corrected himself for calling Sooryavanshi a junior. "Achha, junior toh tu hi hua, sorry, sorry. That is one quality which I love about him. Hopefully, he'll be more dangerous than what he is today."

"I think it's not going to be his first or the last. I think he's gonna play many more like this, and he'll keep performing the way he's doing right now."

'The way he batted was unbelievable'

Sooryavanshi, for his part, spoke warmly about the fun atmosphere inside the East Zone camp and lavished praise on his captain's batting performance in the final.

"The way we were off the field and the way we were enjoying inside, it was a lot of fun. The way he batted in the final, it was unbelievable. I can't say anything much about it. I think the match changed from there and as a captain, a lot of people have been watching and playing under him for a long time. It was a lot of fun to play in his captaincy. We enjoyed a lot."

Kishan ended the exchange by stressing the importance of enjoying the game as a team.

"The most important thing is to enjoy. The result is not in our hands, but to enjoy as a team is very important. Sorry, the result is in our hands right now, but it's very important to enjoy."