Why Were East Zone Declared Duleep Trophy Winner Despite Drawn Final Vs South Zone?

Ishan Kishan & other East Zone players with the Duleep Trophy (Source: @BCCIDomestic/X)East Zone on Thursday made history, winning Duleep Trophy for the first time in 14 years. It happened under the leadership of Ishan Kishan, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar, among others, helping him to etch his name in Indian cricket’s history books.Shikhar Mohan, Sudip Kumar Gharami, Kumar Kushagra, Anukul Roy, Md Kounain Quraishi and Abhijit K Sarkar were other East Zone final winning members.The development happened after East Zone declared their second innings on 388/7, with Md Kounain Quraishi remaining not out on 116. Shami was at the other end, remaining not out on a two-ball zero.East Zone, riding on Ishan Kishan’s magnificent 270, piled up 708 runs in the first innings at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. In reply, South Zone, led by Ishan Kishan, finished with 336. The match was, by all accounts, was over already before the captains decided to shake ends well before the scheduled stumps timing.What Does BCCI Rule Say Regarding Draw Match In India's Domestic Circuit?This has been an existing rule by BCCI for all red-ball matches in India’s domestic circuit. During group stage matches, during Ranji Trophy’s for example, whichever team gets the first-innings lead gets three points if the match ends in a draw. The opposition, on the other hand, gets one point if the match is not among the knockouts.For the knockouts, as it happened in the Duleep Trophy final, there is no requirements of point divisions. In simple words, East Zone defeated South Zone in Duleep Trophy 2026 final with a first-innings lead.First-Innings Lead Helps East Zone Win Duleep TrophyAs East Zone had a first-innings lead, that too by a good margin, they were declared Duleep Trophy winner despite the final against North Zone was drawn.Also Read: Duleep Trophy Winners List From 1961/62 To 2026/27In particular, East Zone had a 372-run first innings lead, and by the time they decided to declare, the target for South Zone was 761.It was already Day 5 of Duleep Trophy final, and there was no chance for South Zone to get the miraculous job done. If there were ample amount of time left, Tilak Varma and his boys might have had an outside chance to pull off an unthinkable task.BCCI Domestic @BCCIdomestic 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 🏆 Congratulations to the Ishan Kishan-led East Zone on winning their third #DuleepTrophy title 👏👏 #EZvSZ | @ishankishan51 Sep 10, 2026, 2:53 PM What Happened In East Zone's Last Duleep Trophy Final Win?It was East Zone’s first Duleep Trophy win in 14 years, winning last time around back in 2012. Incidentally, the final took place at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai back then as well.Led by Natraj Behera, East Zone posted 232 in the first innings. Central Zone, in reply, were bowled out for 189 in the first innings. East Zone, coming to bat in the second innings, were 8/0 before the match was drawn due to a first-innings lead, just like they won the Duleep Trophy 2026.Also Read: Tilak Varma’s Agonising 99 In Duleep Trophy Final Lands Him In Rare Club