Rest of India completed a 167-run win over Ranji Trophy champions Jammu & Kashmir to lift the Irani Cup 2026, bowling the hosts out for 111 in the final innings at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar. The result came inside four days of a scheduled five, a sharp turnaround from the position at stumps on day three, when Rest of India held a 265-run lead but still had work to do to force a result.
Rest of India, captained by Rishabh Pant, had trailed by 41 runs on first innings after being bowled out for 237 (Smaran Ravichandran 68, Shikhar Mohan 60) in reply to J&K's 278, built on half-centuries from Paras Dogra (75), Abdul Samad (57) and Muzaffar (64). Smaran then took over the match, following his unbeaten 126 on day three with a declaration-innings 135 as Rest of India's second innings closed on 319, with Sanat Sangwan (55) also contributing, setting Jammu & Kashmir a target well beyond their reach.
Chasing a daunting target, J&K's batting never found its footing against the Rest of India pace attack. Mukesh Kumar ran through the middle and lower order to finish with 6 for 33, with Akash Deep taking 3 for 25 at the other end as the hosts folded for 111, Shubham Khajuria's 36 the only substantial score of the innings. The two pacers accounted for nine of the ten wickets to fall, turning a competitive match into a one-sided finish inside the fourth day.
The defeat does not take much shine off what has been the biggest season in Jammu & Kashmir's first-class history: this was the first Irani Cup ever staged in the region, awarded to J&K on the back of their maiden Ranji Trophy title in 2025-26. Facing a Rest of India XI stacked with India regulars, J&K's batters pushed the match into a fourth-day finish before the gulf in bowling depth proved decisive — a reasonable account of themselves for a side playing its first fixture of this stature.
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Scores, bowling figures and the match result in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked reporting from multiple outlets, current as of October 4, 2026.
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