Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Told To Learn From Players Like Ishan Kishan: "You Have To Learn How To Play Long Innings"

By Suresh

*Raag of the Duleep Final: A Masterclass in Patience* Greetings, cricket lovers. As one who has spent a lifetime studying rhythm and patience—both on the sitar and on the pitch—what I witnessed in Chennai on Monday was nothing short of a musical composition. Ishan Kishan, batting at No. 5 for East Zone against South Zone, played a captain's knock of monumental proportions: **270 off 334 balls** (30x4, 7x6), steering East Zone to a towering **708 all out in 163 overs**. This monumental effort made him only the third East Zone batter—joining the legends Arun Lal (287 in 1986) and Saba Karim (unbtd 200 in 1995)—to reach a double century in the Duleep Trophy, and the first East Zone captain-WK to do so in a final. Per Star Sports, he is now the seventh batter overall to score a double hundred in a Duleep final. The opening stand came via Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who top-edged with **44 off 37**. And it was here that commentator Vivek Razdan delivered a note worth remembering for the young batter: *"Sooryavanshi sahab, now you have to learn from players like Ishan Kishan. Once you are set, you must learn how to play a long innings. This is not just technique, not just temperament—this is match fitness. To stand so long in such heat..."* A gentle nudge, delivered with the cadence of a guru. The defining partnership of the day was the **230-run fifth-wicket stand** between Kishan and Kushagra, who had carried their lead forward from Day 1's 385/4. Kushagra brought up his maiden Duleep century—**101 off 132** (8x4, 5x6)—before being caught in the deep off Vijay. Kishan, meanwhile, reached his double before retiring hurt on 250. Anukul Roy added a useful 45 (LBW after a review), and Mohammed Shami chipped in 28 before Shreyas Gopal's wicket. For those who appreciate the *alap*—the slow, meditative opening of a raga—Kishan's innings was exactly that: patient building, then soaring crescendo. A masterclass in the art of staying. *What do you think, community—can Sooryavanshi learn this patience, or is it a gift?* Source: NDTV Sports