Irani Cup: A Complete Guide to India’s Prestigious Domestic Cricket Showdown

Introduction

The Irani Cup stands amongst the most prestigious domestic cricket competitions in India. Over the years, it has embodied the rich cricketing heritage of the country giving rise to top-tier clashes and memorable cricketing moments. The annual competition is marked by cricket enthusiasts all over the country on their cricketing calendar.

History of the Irani Cup

The Irani Cup was started in 1959-60 to commemorate the 25 years of Ranji Trophy in India. It was named after Z.R. Irani, a man who was associated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ever since it was first conceived in 1928, till his death in 1970. BCCI conceived the Irani Cup in his name, and it was to be given to the winner of the match between the preceding year’s Ranji Trophy winning team and a selection of players known as the Rest of India. The first-ever winners of the Irani Cup were Mumbai who drew their match against the Rest of India but were awarded the Trophy as they had a lead in the first innings.

The Rest Of India team has won the Irani Cup a record 29 times while Bombay/Mumbai has the most wins out of the Ranji-Winning Teams with 13 wins.

Irani Cup Format and Rules

Over the years, the Irani Cup was played between last year’s Ranji Trophy winners against the Rest Of India team. This practice was abolished in the 2012-13 season. Now the winner of the Ranji Trophy of the current domestic season plays the Rest of India team in the same domestic season’s Irani Cup. This was not the case from 1965-66 up until the 2012-13 season. During this time period, the Irani Cup match was played at the beginning of the subsequent season. Again in 2022, this changed. Now the Irani Cup is played in the subsequent domestic cricketing season yet again.

The Irani Cup match is played over 5 days under standard first-class cricket rules and in the event of a draw, the team with the first-innings lead is declared the winner.

Notable Matches and Moments

Irani Cup holds a special place in the heart of one certain Sachin Tendulkar. The man who is remembered as the “God of Cricket”, Sachin Tendulkar played his first Irani Cup match as a timid 16-year-old and scored his first century in the Rest of India’s 2nd innings remaining unbeaten at 103 in the 1989-90 season. 24 years down the line, Sachin Tendulkar scored his 81st Domestic Century in the 2012-13 Irani Cup Final.

Under the leadership of Faiz Fazal, Vidarbha won back-to-back Irani Cups in 2018-19 and 2019-20 against Rest of India. Both triumphs confirmed Vidarbha’s ascendancy to the very top, challenging the cradle of Indian domestic cricket powerhouses in Mumbai and Karnataka.

Wasim Jaffer played a great innings of 286 runs in the 2018 Irani Cup and helped Vidarbha post a record total of 800/7, which is a record in the history of the tournament. Wasim Jaffer faced 431 balls, hitting 34 boundaries and one six. His mammoth score is also the current-standing record of the highest individual score in the tournament’s history.

Irani Cup Winners List

Season	Winner	Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground	Margin of Winning	Venue
1959-60	Bombay	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Feroz Shah Kotla
1960-61	Not held
1962-63	Bombay	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Brabourne Stadium
1963-64	Bombay	Rest of India	Won by 109 runs	Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy Stadium
1964-65	Not held
1965-66	Bombay/Rest of India (Shared)			Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (Chennai)
1966-67	Rest of India	Bombay	6 wickets	Eden Gardens
1967-68	Bombay	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Brabourne Stadium
1968-69	Rest of India	Bombay	Won by 119 runs	Brabourne Stadium
1969-70	Bombay	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Pune Club Ground
1970-71	Bombay	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Eden Gardens
1971-72	Rest of India	Bombay	Won by 119 runs	Brabourne Stadium
1972-73	Bombay	Rest of India	Won by 220 runs	Nehru Stadium, Pune
1973-74	Rest of India	Bombay	1st Innings Lead	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
1974-75	Karnataka	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium
1975-76	Bombay	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Vidarbha Cricket Association
1976-77	Bombay	Rest of India	10 wickets	Feroz Shah Kotla
1977-78	Rest of India	Bombay	Innings and 168 runs	Wankhede Stadium
1978-79	Rest of India	Karnataka	9 wickets	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
1979-80	Not held
1980-81	Delhi	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Feroz Shah Kotla
1981-82	Bombay	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Nehru Stadium, Indore
1982-83	Rest of India	Delhi	5 wickets	Feroz Shah Kotla
1983-84	Karnataka	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Groumd
1984-85	Rest of India	Bombay	4 wickets	Feroz Shah Kotla
1985-86	Bombay	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Vidarbha Cricket Association
1986-87	Rest of India	Delhi	Innings and 232 runs	Barkatullah Khan Stadium
1987-88	Hyderabad	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad
1988-89	Tamil Nadu	Rest of India	3 wickets	M.A.Chidamabaram Stadium
1989-90	Delhi	Rest of India	309 runs	Wankhede Stadium
1990-91	Rest of India	Bengal	1st Innings Lead	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
1991-92	Haryana	Rest of India	4 wickets	Nahar Singh Stadium
1992-93	Rest of India	Delhi	Innings and 122 runs	Feroz Shah Kotla
1993-94	Rest of India	Punjab	181 runs	Punjab Agricultural University Stadium
1994-95	Bombay	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Wankhede Stadium
1995-96	Bombay	Rest of India	9 wickets	Wankhede Stadium
1996-97	Karnataka	Rest of India	5 wickets	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
1997-98	Mumbai	Rest of India	54 runs	Wankhede Stadium
1998-99	Karnataka	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
1999-00	Rest of India	Karnataka	Innings and 60 runs	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
2000-01	Rest of India	Mumbai	10 wickets	Wankhede Stadium
2001-02	Rest of India	Baroda	6 wickets	Vidarbha Cricket Association
2002-03	Railways	Rest of India	5 wickets	Karnail Singh Stadium
2003-04	Rest of India	Mumbai	3 wickets	M.A.Chidamabaram Stadium
2004-05	Rest of India	Mumbai	290 runs	Punjab Cricket Association
2005-06	Railways	Rest of India	9 wickets	Karnail Singh Stadium
2006-07	Rest of India	Uttar Pradesh	9 wickets	Vidarbha Cricket Association
2007-08	Rest of India	Mumbai	9 wickets	Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground
2008-09	Rest of India	Delhi	187 runs	Reliance Cricket Stadium
2009-10	Rest of India	Mumbai	1st Innings Lead	Vidarbha Cricket Association
2010-11	Rest of India	Mumbai	361 runs	Sawai Mansingh Stadium
2011-12	Rest of India	Rajasthan	404 Runs	Sawai Mansingh Stadium
2012-13	Rest of India	Rajasthan	Innings and 79 Runs	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
2013	Rest of India	Mumbai	1st Innings Lead	Wankhede Stadium
2013-14	Karnataka	Rest of India	Innings and 222 runs	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
2014-15	Karnataka	Rest of India	246 Runs	M.Chinnaswamy Stadium
2015-16	Rest of India	Mumbai	4 wickets	Brabourne Stadium
2016-17	Rest of India	Gujarat	5 wickets	Brabourne Stadium
2017-18	Vidarbha	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Vidarbha Cricket Association
2018-19	Vidarbha	Rest of India	1st Innings Lead	Vidarbha Cricket Association
2019-20	Match Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020-21 & 2021-22	Not held
2022-23	Rest of India	Saurashtra	8 wickets	Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium
2023-24	Rest of India	Madhya Pradesh	238 Runs	Captain Roop Singh Stadium

Key Players and Performances

Wasim Jaffer’s 286 remains the best individual performance in the Irani Cup ever. The fact that it came from the bat of the Tournament’s highest run scorer is even better. But there have been many other great performances in the Irani Cup so let’s go through some of them.

1. Yashasvi Jaiswal (2023/24)

Yashasvi Jaiswal in Irani Cup 2023 final:

•213(259) in 1st innings.
•144(157) in 2nd innings.

He scored 357 runs in this Irani Cup final, what a performance. Yashasvi Jaiswal – future superstar of Indian cricket. pic.twitter.com/hJI51t516k

— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) March 4, 2023

Last year was the year when Yashasvi Jaiswal decided to announce himself to the world. The Mumbai batter scored 213 runs in the 1st innings, then scored 121 in the second innings in the Irani Cup Final for the Rest of India taking them closer to victory! Like many before him, he too showed the world what he was capable of following in the footsteps of some of India’s many great batsmen.

2. Murali Kartik (2000/01)

In the 2000-01 Irani Cup at Wankhede Stadium, the Rest of India triumphed over Mumbai by 10 wickets. The match is most notable for Murali Kartik’s stunning bowling performance, with his 9/70 in the third innings still standing as the best figures in Irani Cup history, playing a crucial role in his team’s victory.

3. Hanuma Vihari (2018/19 & 2019/20)

A testament to patience, Hanuma Vihari is best known for his heroics in Australia for the Indian test team. But in domestic cricket, Hanuma Vihari is known for his back-to-back tons against Vidarbha in the Irani Cup in 2018 and 2019. His 180 and 183 not-out remain two of the most valiant knocks ever scored in defeat in Cricketing history.

Irani Trophy: Current Status and Relevance

The Irani Cup is the stage where the Creme de la Creme of Indian Domestic Cricket plays year after year. And this is a fact that hasn’t changed a single bit in the past 60+ years. Even today, the Irani Cup garners the attention of selectors and is important data in the cricket calendar of the country. Irani Cup 2024 will be played between last season’s Ranji Trophy winners Mumbai, who won the Ranji Trophy in March 2024, and the Rest of India team starting from October 1st and till October 5th, 2024.

Comparison with Other Domestic Tournaments

The Irani Cup is unlike any other Domestic Tournament in India. The winner of this one-off fixture is decided between the ones who win the Ranji Trophy and the best out of the remaining players. Hence, this cup provides a very different environment and atmosphere than the Duleep Trophy, Ranji Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, etc.

It provides for the selectors to see who has the most mettle in tough situations and which players can handle the “big-match pressure” the best.

Conclusion

The Irani Cup has been a memorable tournament in Indian Domestic Cricket ever since its inception. The one-off 5-day match has provided cricket enthusiasts with innumerable memories and great players. The list is endless, from Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, and Wasim Jaffer, to more recent names like Rahane, Jaiswal, etc. The Irani Cup always has been and always will be a crucial part of India’s cricketing ecosystem.