East Zone and South Zone will square off in the Duleep Trophy final, starting September 6.
Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma acknowledged that it is “tough” to join India's T20I squad for the three-match series against Afghanistan right after the Duleep Trophy final, but stressed the need to adapt to the situation as professional cricketers.
East Zone and South Zone will square off in the Duleep Trophy final, starting September 6 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. While the five-day domestic fixture is scheduled for a September 10 finish, India will face Afghanistan in the first T20I in New Delhi on September 13.
During their pre-match press conferences at Chepauk, both captains shared their insights on adapting seamlessly without making excuses.
"I don't know. How do I tell you? It's just about knowing what format you are playing," East Zone skipper Kishan said on the eve of the Duleep Trophy final. "Sometimes it gets difficult when you are playing a Test match and suddenly you have to go and start hitting from ball one and suddenly you have to go back to your domestic team and you have to play a whole different role. But at the same time, I feel, as professionals it's our job to adapt, we cannot be coming up with excuses after knowing this is like your routine for next few days.
"So, it is better to not be in a situation where we have to make excuses but at the same time be aware and be just mindful of what is going to happen and I will be playing T20 after this. So my job will be different [in T20Is], but still I feel we are getting two days of practice before the Afghanistan first game, so it will be more than enough, I feel."
South Zone captain Tilak echoed the sentiment, categorising the turnaround as "slightly challenging" but noting that the two-day gap in Delhi provides adequate practice time to reset their mindsets and hydrate correctly.
"We have played enough domestic games, we have played in every condition, so we can adjust to the conditions," Tilak said. "But it will be slightly challenging playing five days here and again joining the [T20I] team. But from here we are going to Delhi, there will be two days of break, so we can practice there and we have enough time as well, but it will be slightly challenging. We know how to change our mindsets and maintain our body with good fluids and everything, so we have played back-to-back games before in the domestic as well and international, so we are quite used to it."
Apart from Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, East Zone vice-captain Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will have to manage tight turnaround times between the Duleep Trophy final and Afghanistan T20I series.
(With Cricinfo Inputs)