Patidar heaps praise on Saransh and Kartikeya post-victory for the Central Zone in Duleep Trophy Final in Bengaluru.
Patidar hails spinners Kartikeya and Jain in Duleep Trophy victory.
The captain of Central Zone, who won the Duleep Trophy in 2025–2026, Rajat Patidar, praised the team’s “great character” throughout the tournament and in the final. He gave special recognition to spinners Saransh Jain and Kumar Kartikeya, who combined for 16 wickets in the final as Central Zone defeated South Zone by six wickets to win the Duleep Trophy for the first time since 2014–15.
“They have played a lot of matches together, Kartikeya and Saransh [for Madhya Pradesh] and they have the skill and are very difficult to play on this pitch,” Patidar said after the game. “The track was really good to bat and our bowlers dominated and made it tough for the other team. That was a positive sign.”
Central Zone has had a perfect competition, easily defeating North East Zone in the quarterfinals and West Zone in the semi-finals to go to the championship by taking the lead in the first inning. After that, Central Zone bowled first in the final and skittled South Zone for just 149, setting the stage for a convincing victory on the last day of what had been a high-scoring tournament.
“This wicket was slightly dry, and that is why we decided to bowl first,” Patidar said. “We wanted to bowl them out in the first innings as early as possible. That was our aim and it made the game easier.
“We predicted that it would help the fast bowlers, but I wanted to give one spinner at least an over to see how the pitch is responding. I realised there was more help for the spinners rather than the fast bowlers.”