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

Founded during the 1959-60 season, the tournament 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 created to mark the completion of 25 years of the Ranji Trophy championship. 

The inaugural edition of the Irani Cup witnessed Ranji Trophy winners, Bombay, lock horns with the Rest of India at the Feroz Shah Kotla (now Arun Jaitley Stadium) in Delhi in March 1960.

Electing to bat first, Bombay rode on captain Polly Umrigar’s scintillating 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-inning lead to clinch the inaugural Irani Cup title. Since then, Bombay have appeared in 29 Irani Cup finals, winning 12 of them. 

Meanwhile, Rest of India have won the Irani Cup on 24 occasions so far.

The last edition of the Irani Cup was held in February 2019 when Vidarbha defeated Rest of India on the basis of first-innings lead.

The 2019-20 edition of the Irani Cup had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic while the 2020-21 edition was not held due to the same reason.

The Irani Cup will return after two years when 2019-20 Ranji Trophy champions Saurashtra will host Rest of India in Rajkot from October 1-5. On the other hand, reigning Ranji Trophy winners Madhya Pradesh will also get a chance to win the Irani Cup when it is scheduled to be held at the end of the ongoing season.

Irani Cup winners list

Season  Winner Against  Result 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 Groumd
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 Not held

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Featured photo: BCCI

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