<i>'Mai wicket-taker hoon': </i>Vaibhav Sooryavanshi sends message to 'Ishan bhaiya' ahead of Duleep Trophy semifinal

Fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has opened up about his bowling spell in East Zone's opening Duleep Trophy 2026 match, saying he always enjoys bowling and joking that captain Ishan Kishan did not know he was a "wicket-taker."Sooryavanshi, who was named East Zone vice-captain for the tournament, made an impact with the ball in the second innings against North East Zone. The left-arm spinner took two wickets in a three-over spell as East Zone completed an innings and 210-run win on Tuesday.Speaking in a video shared by BCCI Domestic, Sooryavanshi said batters enjoy bowling just as much as bowlers enjoy batting."If you ask any batter, they always enjoy bowling. A batter always enjoys bowling and a bowler always enjoys batting equally," Sooryavanshi said.The teenager said Kishan brought him into the attack because East Zone needed a breakthrough, but added that the captain did not know what he was capable of with the ball."Opponent team's wickets weren't falling, so I was asked to bowl two or three overs. Ishan bhaiya felt like he was taking a risk, but he didn't knew that I am a wicket-taker," he added.Sooryavanshi's spell changed the innings quickly.He first dismissed Kishan Lyngdoh, who was caught at deep covers while trying to play an aerial shot. Three balls later, he got left-handed batter Imliwati Lemtur to edge behind, with Kishan taking the catch behind the stumps.The Bihar youngster said he knew he had only three overs to bowl and wanted to make the most of them."I had only one thing in my mind: that even if I take five wickets, I'm only going to get to bowl three overs only. So (the plan) was to bowl as well as I can and target one spot only and finish my spell well.”The Rajasthan Royals batter did not have much success with the bat in the match. He scored eight in East Zone's only innings but said contributing with the ball made up for it."It was a lot of fun because batting didn't go so well in the match. So, contributing with the ball was great. And of course, when a batter takes a wicket, there's no greater enjoyment than that, so it was a lot of fun!" he concluded.Sooryavanshi now has four wickets in First-Class cricket.East Zone have qualified for the Duleep Trophy semi-finals and will face Central Zone at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 2 in Bengaluru. The match starts at 9:30am on Sunday, while the final begins on September 6.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.