Mumbai Clinches 15th Irani Cup Title After 27-Year Wait

Irani cup title finally returning to Mumbai after the drought of 27 years. Ajinkya Rahane led reigning Ranji champion team has drawn the match after taking the first innings lead against the Rest of India in a 5 day match. In which they stood victorious due to courtesy of the first innings lead.

Final Summary

First Innings : 

• After losing the toss Mumbai has been invited to bat first. Early half an hour was challenging for the Ranji champions.
• After 37 per 3, healthy partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Captain Rahane. After Iyer got out Sarfaraz Khan a young Indian batting sensation came to bat and scored the magnificent double century which took Mumbai to the total of 537 all out.

Second Innings : 

• Rest of India came to bat Abhimanyu Easwaran fighting knock of 191 was not sufficient to pass the score of Mumbai and he was only supported by Dhruv Jurel who scored 93, excluding these two no player survived on the pitch for the long time and scored 416 runs.

Third Innings : 

• After taking the first innings lead Mumbai scored 329 after losing 8 wickets. Opener Prithvi Shaw scored 76 runs and lower order batter and spinner Tanush Kotian scored a nice century and the match was drawn on the last day of the test match.

Winner : Mumbai (Due to first Innings lead)

Player of the Match : Sarfaraz Khan (Double centurion in first innings)

About Irani Trophy

• The Irani Cup, also known as the IDFC First Bank Irani Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual one-off First-Class cricket match organized by the BCCI and contested each season by the reigning Ranji Trophy champions and a multi-state RoI team composed of players from the other state teams.
• The inaugural edition was played in March 1960 as a special event to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Ranji Trophy.
• It was intended to be a one-off match but, in 1962, BCCI decided to institute it as an annual fixture and it has been played in most seasons since 1962–63.
• BCCI named the Irani Trophy after Zal R. Irani, their long-serving president and treasurer, who was a significant figure in the organization from its inception in 1928, till his death in 1970.

Most Successful Irani Trophy winning Teams

• Rest of India – 30 times
• Mumbai – 15 times
• Karnataka – 6 times
• Delhi – 2 times
• Railways- 2 times
• Vidarbha – 2 times

Irani Cup Winners Last 3 years

• 2024/25 – Mumbai
• 2023/24 – Rest of India
• 2022/23 – Rest of India (Final against MP 2022-23)
• 2022/23 – Rest of India (Final against Saurashtra 2019-20)

(2022/23 edition Played twice due to the suspension in COVID years)

Summary/Static	Details
Why in the news?	Irani cup title finally returning to Mumbai after the drought of 27 years.
Winner	Mumbai (won due to first innings lead over Rest of India)
Player of the Match	Sarfaraz Khan (for scoring a double century in the first innings)
Captain	Ajinkya Rahane
Historical Background	First played in 1960; established annually by BCCI in 1962. Named after Zal R. Irani, former BCCI president.
Most Successful Teams	Rest of India (30 titles), Mumbai (15 titles), Karnataka (6 titles), Delhi (2 titles), Railways (2 titles), Vidarbha (2 titles).
Irani Cup	Known as the IDFC First Bank Irani Trophy for sponsorship; contested by Ranji Trophy champions and the Rest of India team.
Irani Cup Winners (Last 3 Years)	2024/25 – Mumbai, 2023/24 – Rest of India, 2022/23 – Rest of India (twice, against MP and Saurashtra, due to COVID suspensions).