All you need to know about Irani Cup and its format

The Irani Cup is a prestigious first-class tournament which is part of India’s domestic cricket calendar.

Founded during the 1959-60 season, the Irani Cup is named after the late Z.R.Irani, who was part of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) between 1928 and 1970. The Irani Cup was initially staged to mark the completion of 25 years of the Ranji Trophy championship. 

However, the Irani Cup has evolved since then. Know what is Irani Cup and format. 

What is Irani Cup: Know about its format

The Irani Cup is an annual first-class match played between the reigning Ranji Trophy champions and the Rest of India side consisting of players from various Ranji teams. 

As per the Irani Cup format, the one-off match is played across five days. Teams try to bowl at least 90 overs every day and bowl out the opposition as early as possible.

Organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the inaugural edition of the Irani Cup witnessed Ranji Trophy winners, Bombay, square off against Rest of India at the Feroz Shah Kotla (now Arun Jaitley Stadium) in Delhi in March 1960.

After Bombay captain Polly Umrigar won the toss and opted to bat first, the Ranji Trophy champions rode on skipper’s brilliant hundred (102) along with contributions from Madhav Apte (98) and Gulabrai Ramchand (82) to post 344 in their first innings. Gujarat off-spinner Jasunbhai Patel was the wrecker-in-chief for the Rest of India as he picked five wickets for 98 runs.

In reply, Nari Contractor (108) and Motganhalli Jaisimha (105) powered Rest of India to 298 all out. Bombay leg-spinner Hoshang Amroliwala claimed six wickets for just 44 runs to put the Ranji Trophy champions in an advantageous position. 

In the second innings, Madhav Apte (70) and Hoshang Amroliwala (76) slammed fifties before Bombay decided to declare at 210/5.

Chasing 257, Rest of India could only manage 111/7 as Bombay pipped them on the basis of the first-innings lead to clinch the inaugural Irani Cup title. Since then, Bombay (now Mumbai) have appeared in 29 Irani Cup finals, winning 14 of them. 

Meanwhile, Rest of India have won the Irani Cup on 30 occasions so far.

Under the leadership of Hanuma Vihari, Rest of India won the previous edition of the Irani Cup after they beat Saurashtra by 175 runs at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot in October 2023.

Photo credit: Imago