Big Picture: Siraj, Padikkal check in; no Rahul

KL Rahul will not be in action in the 2026 Duleep Trophy final, but the inclusion of Mohammed Siraj and Devdutt Padikkal, who hit two centuries in two Tests in Sri Lanka, has added some spice to the title bout. Tilak Varma will captain them at South Zone before linking up with the India squad for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, which will kick off on September 13.

South Zone's opponents East Zone aren't short on star power either: Ishan Kishan will captain them with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi as his deputy. The teenage phenom hit the nets by 11am on the eve of the final and settled into his groove right away. At the adjacent net, Padikkal batted for around 30 minutes without any trouble either.

Siraj, meanwhile, had a short, sharp spell and is working his way back into his usual rhythm after operating in only the 125-130kph range in Sri Lanka. Chepauk is likely to serve up a bouncy, red-soil pitch, which could potentially amplify the threat posed by Siraj, especially if he can bowl at full tilt.

The BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru was originally scheduled to stage the Duleep final too, but was later shifted to Chepauk to allow the public to attend the game. The TNCA has announced free entry for the C, D and E lower stands at Chepauk and the India stars are expected to draw a substantial crowd, particularly on Sunday, the opening day of the final.

In the spotlight: Shreyas Gopal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

After warming the bench at Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the last two seasons, legspin-bowling allrounder Shreyas Gopal will have a rare opportunity to play at his IPL home ground, this time in the Duleep Trophy final, which will also be his 100th first-class game. After returning to Karnataka from Kerala in 2024, Shreyas has been a strike bowler for Karnataka across formats and his batting, too, lends more balance to the team he represents.

Before becoming an IPL and global sensation, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi cracked a 58-ball hundred against Australia Under-19s in an unofficial Youth Test at Chepauk in October 2024, in front of empty stands. It was the innings that launched him on the radar of the junior selectors. Two years later, he returns as a marquee player expected to fill the stands at Chepauk.

Team news: CV Milind replaces injured Kaverappa at South

Expect Padikkal and Siraj to slot straight into South Zone's XI. However, they will be without seamer Vidwath Kaverappa, who hurt his ankle during the semi-finals. Hyderabad left-arm seamer CV Milind has been brought into the South Zone squad as his replacement. They also have seam-bowling allrounder Aman Khan and spin-bowling allrounder T Vijay in the reserves. Tilak suggested that South are considering the potential inclusion of Vijay as a match-up against East's left-hander-heavy batting line-up.

South Zone (probable): 1 N Jagadeesan (wk), 2 Ricky Bhui, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Shaik Rasheed/Karun Nair, 5 Tilak Varma (capt), 6 R Smaran, 7 Shreyas Gopal, 8 T Vijay, 9 K Sai Teja, 10 MD Nidheesh, 11 Aman Khan/CV Milind

East are unlikely to make any changes to the XI that beat Central Zone in the semi-finals in Bengaluru.

East Zone (probable): 1 Abhimanyu Easwaran, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Virat Singh, 4 Ishan Kishan (capt & wk), 5 Sudip Kumar Gharami, 6 Kumar Kushagra, 7 Anukul Roy, 8 Md Kounain Quraishi, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Abhijit Sarkar, 11 Mukesh Kumar

Pitch and conditions: Red-soil pitch and rain alert

The Duleep final is set to be played on a red-soil pitch, which could offer some encouraging bounce and carry. Both Kishan and Tilak expected the pitch to take turn on days four and five.

There was a heavy downpour in Chennai two days out of the final, but the sun was out for the teams' training sessions on the eve of the game. Rain, though, has been forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday in Chennai. Wet weather had also washed out two knockout games in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) at Chepauk last month.

Stats and trivia: Special game for Shami and Gopal

• The Duleep Trophy final will be the 100th first-class game for both Shami and Shreyas

• East Zone last won the Duleep Trophy final in Chennai in 2012-13

• At 15 years and 157 days, Sooryavanshi became the youngest to score a half-century in the Duleep Trophy

Quotes

"The domestic circuit is a big change. Just before the [ 2026 T20] World Cup, I have seen how Ishan Kishan has done in domestic cricket and that's why he was back into the World Cup team. The same thing goes to every player, whoever has performed well in domestic, they will be coming to the national side, so domestic is a quite important part for every player."
South Zone captain Tilak Varma on the significance of domestic cricket

"I feel Vaibhav is very smart for a 15-year-old boy, I think he knows what he is doing. I have heard him speaking to other players as well. I think he is very smart and he knows what he's doing, so there is no doubt if he has played four-day or five-day cricket before or not, I think end of the day you just need to get runs out of him and that is what he is willing to do. So the most important thing is getting runs and just helping your team-mates out."
East Zone captain Ishan Kishan on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's red-ball game awareness