Rest of India win Irani Cup 2026 by 167 runs in Srinagar

Rest of India won the Irani Cup 2026 by 167 runs, bowling Jammu and Kashmir out for 111 on the fourth afternoon at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar. Mukesh Kumar took 6 for 33. The target was 279. The hosts had the first-innings lead and four sessions in hand. They lasted barely two.

The match ran from 1 to 4 October. It was the first senior cricket the ground had staged in roughly four decades. Jammu and Kashmir qualified as Ranji Trophy holders, having won the title for the first time last season under Paras Dogra.

The collapse after lunch

Jammu and Kashmir chose to bowl and had the better of the opening two days. Rest of India were dismissed for 237. The hosts replied with 278 and led by 41. That lead looked useful. It was gone by the middle of day four.

Rest of India set up the win with 319 in the second innings, leaving 279 to defend across the final day and a bit. Jammu and Kashmir lost six wickets for 22 runs after lunch, according to a report in Dainik Jagran, and the innings closed on 111.

Rest of India had been 306 for 8 on the third evening, by CricTracker's account of that day. The last two wickets added 13. Those runs looked like scraps at the time. They were most of the margin by which the game turned.

Mukesh and Akash Deep take control

Mukesh Kumar finished with eight wickets in the match and 6 for 33 in the second innings. Akash Deep took 3 for 25 alongside him. Between them they accounted for nine of the ten second-innings wickets.

• Rest of India first innings: 237
• Jammu and Kashmir first innings: 278
• Rest of India second innings: 319
• Jammu and Kashmir second innings: 111, chasing 279

Akash Deep had been working back from injury. A full four-day workload and a three-wicket haul give the national selectors a current reading on a bowler who has spent much of the year out of the frame.

Smaran carries the second innings

Ravichandran Smaran made 68 and 135. The second of those arrived when Rest of India were still behind and short of batting. Rishabh Pant singled him out afterwards.

"Smaran, the way he played in both innings, it was an outstanding innings, especially with the position we were in," Pant said, in quotes carried by CricTracker.

His two innings came to 203 runs. Rest of India made 556 across the match. One batter accounted for better than a third of his side's total, and the bulk of it arrived when the game was still level.

Cricket returns to Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium

The venue had hosted two one-day internationals and nothing else at this level. India played West Indies there on 13 October 1983, and Australia on 9 September 1986. Allan Border made 90 not out in the second of those. Sunil Gavaskar made 52.

Jammu and Kashmir earned the fixture by beating Karnataka in last season's Ranji Trophy final, their first title in the competition. The Irani Cup pairs the Ranji champions against a Rest of India side. Hosting rights follow the trophy, which is how a four-day final landed in Srinagar.

Forty years on, the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association doubled the seating to 5,000 to meet the board's inspection requirements for this fixture. "This ground was not meant for live matches, but the BCCI sent a team for inspection," JKCA head of cricket operations Majid Dar said, in comments reported before the game. "We fulfilled those requirements on time."

Pant's missed day and the fixtures ahead

Pant captained Rest of India and turned 29 on the final day. He sat out day three with a fever, CricTracker reported, with Sarfaraz Khan standing in. He was back for the close.

"When you win, all the pain and fever goes away," Pant said. "Plan was to bowl fuller. We were more back of a length and we wanted to correct it. We know our bowlers were very good. We corrected that and bowled fuller."

The domestic season moves on quickly. The Vinoo Mankad Trophy starts on 8 October and the Ranji Trophy follows in the middle of the month.