South Zone skipper Tilak Varma expressed hope that he would be able to play the Duleep Trophy final against East Zone in Chennai starting this Sunday despite the short turnaround time between the marquee contest and the first T20I versus Afghanistan.
Tilak, who is India’s T20 vice-captain, will have to finish the final on September 10 and travel to Delhi for the international game scheduled for the 13th. Karnataka stalwart Karun Nair, who scored 699 runs in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy, was benched for the semifinal to accommodate Hyderabad’s K. Himateja is a youngster (24) and has scored decent runs (485).
Because of team combination, tilak said it was purely. East skipper Ishan Kishan and his deputy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi are also in the same boat. “We have two days break in between. But it depends on the selectors and the management. “His [left] ankle is slightly swollen, but he can walk and he is also running with a tape. I feel he will be there in the final. But let’s see. Himateja. “North had two left-arm spinners, and we wanted a lefty in the middle-order. It was very unfortunate for Karun.”
“I want to play the final,” Tilak told reporters on Wednesday after the triumph over North Zone.