Agony at 99, but the bigger picture

Tilak Varma was finally dismissed in this year's Duleep Trophy, falling agonisingly short of a second century. Despite being dismissed for 99, the South Zone captain's red-ball ambitions stay intact, even though his team suffered a big loss against East Zone at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Tilak, who had scored a century and a half-century in South Zone's semifinal win against North Zone without being dismissed, battled through the Chennai heat on Wednesday against a quality East Zone attack. He was the last man to fall, giving a return catch to off-spinner Md Kounain Quraishi, as South were eventually bowled out for 336, conceding a massive 372-run first-innings lead.

'Red-ball cricket is my A game'

For Tilak, however, the larger picture remained clear. The 23-year-old left-hander has made no secret about his desire to play Test cricket for India. "I always say to everyone that I want to play red-ball cricket for India, that's my biggest goal. As a kid, I thought I would play Test cricket first and then white-ball cricket. Red-ball cricket has always been my favourite, it's my 'A' game," Tilak said.

"Over the last five-six years, I have played a lot of white-ball cricket and become good at it. Red-ball cricket is still my favourite, but I am comfortable with both now," he added.

A fighting knock under pressure

Tilak resumed the day on 56 and immediately took the attack to Mohammed Shami, striking two boundaries in the opening over. He and Chama Milind took 44 runs from the nine overs of Shami and Mukesh Kumar's combined first spell, putting the East Zone attack under pressure. Shami conceded 25 in his first four overs after giving away only 17 in 11 overs on Day 3.

Despite his efforts, South were never able to claw back the deficit. East, opting to bat again rather than send their bowlers back out, were 212/5 at stumps on Day Four, stretching their lead to 584 — and eventually to 760 before sealing the trophy on first-innings lead.

Kishan's record continues

East's second innings saw Ishan Kishan continue his first-innings form with 80 off 98 balls, while Shikhar Mohan (52) also remained among the runs. Kishan amassed 350 runs across both innings of the final, surpassing Dinesh Karthik's aggregate of 333 runs from the 2010 final to set a new record for the most runs in the Duleep Trophy final. Tilak, meanwhile, was named Player of the Series for his performances across the tournament.

Brief scores: East Zone 708 & 212/5 (Ishan Kishan 80, Shikhar Mohan 52; Mohammed Siraj 1-17) vs South Zone 336 (Tilak Varma 99; Mukesh Kumar 3-62, Mohammed Shami 2-42, Md Kounain Quraishi 2-99).