Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Sparks Speculation After Covering Jersey Number With Tape On Duleep Trophy Debut
On his Duleep Trophy debut, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hid half of his jersey number with tape, sparking speculation.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's highly-anticipated Duleep Trophy debut did not turn out to be one worth remembering, as he got out for just 8 runs in East Zone's quarter-final clash against North East Zone. Appointed vice-captain to Ishan Kishan despite being only 15 years old, Sooryavanshi did not perform well with the bat. After hitting two boundaries, the left-hander departed on his sixth delivery. However, one interesting thing could be noticed as Sooryavanshi walked back to the pavilion - half of his jersey number was taped.
Sooryavanshi's jersey number was taped in a way that only the number '3' was visible. The exact reason behind the taping isn't known, but it could be that the 15-year-old did so in order to keep his number as '3'.
'3' is the number that Sooryavanshi dons in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Rajasthan Royals (RR). It could be that the taping was done on his Duleep Trophy jersey in order to hide a possible misprint.
Unfortunately for him, Sooryavanshi lasted only six balls. After slamming pacer Bishworjit Konthoujam for two boundaries, the Manipur bowler got his revenge on the final ball of the second over.
Exciting early battle
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) August 23, 2026
Bishworjit Konthoujam wins the contest against Vaibhav Sooryavanshi #DuleepTrophy
Scorecard https://t.co/XJFhfvvTIU pic.twitter.com/4xGnLaAhpx
East Zone vs North East Zone, Duleep Trophy 2026: As it happened
Shahbaz Ahmed's all-round heroics put East Zone in command after Day 2 of their Duleep Trophy quarter-final against North East Zone in Bengaluru.
After being down at 138/5 batting first, with the likes of Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan falling cheaply, centuries by Bengal duo Sudip Kumar Gharami (146) and Shahbaz (167) took East Zone to a big first innings score of 467.
In response, North East Zone were bundled out for just 111 in their first innings and then made to follow on. Medium pacer Abhijit Sarkar took a five-wicket haul, while Shahbaz chipped in with three scalps.