Irani Cup

Irani Trophy
Countries	India
Administrator	Board of Control for Cricket in India
Format	First-class cricket
First edition	1959–60
Latest edition	2023–24
Next edition	2024–25
Tournament format	One-off
Number of teams	2
Current champion	Rest of India
Qualification	Ranji Trophy
Most runs	Wasim Jaffer (1,294)
Most wickets	Padmakar Shivalkar (51)

The Z. R. Irani Cup, also known as the Irani Trophy, (officially as the IDFC First Bank Irani Trophy for sponsorship reasons), is an annual first-class cricket match organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and contested each season by the reigning Ranji Trophy champions and a multi-state Rest of India team (ROI) composed of players from the other state teams.^[3]^[4] 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 annual fixture and it has been played in most seasons since 1962–63.^[5] BCCI named the Irani Trophy after Zal R. Irani, their long-serving president and treasurer, who was a significant figure in the organisation from its inception in 1928, till his death in 1970.^[3]

History

The first match between the Ranji Trophy champions and the Rest of India was played in 1959–60. It was intended to be a one-off event to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Ranji Trophy. In 1962, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to resurrect it as an annual event, although it did not take place in 1964–65. The trophy was named in honour of Zal R. Irani, who was a long time treasurer and president of BCCI, and a keen patron of the game. The first three matches were played towards the end of the season but then, having recognised the fixture's prestige, BCCI moved it to the beginning of the season and, from 1965–66 to 2012–13, it traditionally heralded the start of each new domestic season.

In 2013, the fixture was moved to a date immediately after the Ranji Trophy final, resulting in there being two Irani Cup matches in the 2012/13 season. The fixture has since remained at the end of the season, and is played shortly after the Ranji Trophy final.^[4] Two matches were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, in 2022, BCCI decided to organise two editions back-to-back. These were the 2019–20 and 2022–23 matches, which were played at Rajkot and Indore respectively.^[6]

Results

The following table lists the results of all Irani Trophy matches.^[5] The source shows that ROI have taken part in all 61 matches to the most recent in October 2023, winning 26 with 25 losses and eight draws. By far the most appearances by a single state side is 29 by Bombay/Mumbai, who have won the trophy twelve times. Karnataka have played in eight matches, winning six; and Delhi in seven, winning two. Four teams have appeared twice: Railways (two wins); Vidarbha (two draws); Rajasthan (two defeats); and Saurashtra (two defeats). Another nine teams have appeared once.^[5]

Season	Venue	Winner	Runner-up	Result	Notes	Refs
1959–60	Karnail Singh Stadium, Delhi	Bombay	Rest of India	match drawn	The inaugural match was meant to be a one-off event to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Ranji Trophy. Bombay won the drawn game by achieving first innings lead. Three Test batsmen — Polly Umrigar, Nari Contractor, and M. L. Jaisimha — scored centuries in the match.	^[7]^[8]
1960–61	no competition					^[5]
1961–62	no competition					^[5]
1962–63	Brabourne Stadium	Bombay	Rest of India	match drawn	Bombay won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.	^[9]
1963–64	District College Stadium, Anantpur	Bombay	Rest of India	109 runs		^[10]
1964–65	no competition					^[5]
1965–66	Nehru Stadium, Madras	—	—	match drawn	Although this match was drawn, the first innings lead tie-break rule could not be enforced since both first innings were not completed. Bombay and Rest of India shared the trophy.^[a]	^[5]
1966–67	Eden Gardens	Rest of India	Bombay	6 wickets
1967–68	Brabourne Stadium	Bombay	Rest of India	match drawn	Bombay won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1968–69	Brabourne Stadium	Rest of India	Bombay	119 runs
1969–70	Poona Club Ground, Poona	Bombay	Rest of India	match drawn	Bombay won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1970–71	Eden Gardens	Bombay	Rest of India	match drawn	Bombay won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1971–72	Brabourne Stadium	Rest of India	Bombay	119 runs
1972–73	Poona	Bombay	Rest of India	220 runs
1973–74	Bangalore	Rest of India	Bombay	match drawn	Rest of India won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1974–75	Ahmedabad	Karnataka	Rest of India	match drawn	Karnataka won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1975–76	Vidarbha	Bombay	Rest of India	match drawn	Bombay won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1976–77	Feroz Shah Kotla	Bombay	Rest of India	10 wickets
1977–78	Wankhede Stadium	Rest of India	Bombay	innings and 168 runs
1978–79	Bangalore	Rest of India	Karnataka	9 wickets
1979–80	Jalandhar	—	—	abandoned	Heavy rain caused the match between ROI and Delhi to be abandoned without a ball bowled. No toss was made and the Irani Cup was shared.	^[5]^[11]
1980–81	Feroz Shah Kotla	Delhi	Rest of India	match drawn	Delhi won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1981–82	Indore	Bombay	Rest of India	match drawn	Bombay won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1982–83	Feroz Shah Kotla	Rest of India	Delhi	5 wickets
1983–84	Rajkot	Karnataka	Rest of India	match drawn	Karnataka won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1984–85	Feroz Shah Kotla	Rest of India	Bombay	4 wickets
1985–86	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground	Bombay	Rest of India	match drawn	Bombay won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1986–87	Jodhpur	Rest of India	Delhi	innings and 232 runs
1987–88	Secunderabad	Hyderabad	Rest of India	match drawn	Hyderabad won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1988–89	Chepauk Stadium	Tamil Nadu	Rest of India	3 wickets
1989–90	Wankhede Stadium	Delhi	Rest of India	309 runs
1990–91	Bangalore	Rest of India	Bengal	match drawn	Rest of India won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1991–92	Faridabad	Haryana	Rest of India	4 wickets
1992–93	Feroz Shah Kotla	Rest of India	Delhi	innings and 122 runs
1993–94	Ludhiana	Rest of India	Punjab	181 runs
1994–95	Wankhede Stadium	Bombay	Rest of India	match drawn	Bombay won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1995–96	Wankhede Stadium	Bombay	Rest of India	9 wickets
1996–97	Bangalore	Karnataka	Rest of India	5 wickets
1997–98	Wankhede Stadium	Mumbai	Rest of India	54 runs
1998–99	Bangalore	Karnataka	Rest of India	match drawn	Karnataka won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
1999–2000	Bangalore	Rest of India	Karnataka	innings and 60 runs
2000–01	Wankhede Stadium	Rest of India	Mumbai	10 wickets
2001–02	Vidarbha	Rest of India	Baroda	6 wickets
2002–03	Delhi	Railways	Rest of India	5 wickets
2003–04	Chepauk Stadium	Rest of India	Mumbai	3 wickets
2004–05	Mohali	Rest of India	Mumbai	290 runs
2005–06	Delhi	Railways	Rest of India	9 wickets
2006–07	Vidarbha	Rest of India	Uttar Pradesh	9 wickets
2007–08	Rajkot	Rest of India	Mumbai	9 wickets
2008–09	Vadodara	Rest of India	Delhi	187 runs
2009–10	Vidarbha	Rest of India	Mumbai	match drawn	Rest of India won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
2010–11	Jaipur	Rest of India	Mumbai	361 runs
2011–12	Jaipur	Rest of India	Rajasthan	404 runs
2012–13	Bangalore	Rest of India	Rajasthan	innings and 79 runs		^[12]
2013	Wankhede Stadium	Rest of India	Mumbai	match drawn	Rest of India won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.	^[13]^[14]
2013–14	Bangalore	Karnataka	Rest of India	innings and 222 runs
2014–15	Bangalore	Karnataka	Rest of India	246 runs		^[15]
2015–16	Brabourne Stadium	Rest of India	Mumbai	4 wickets		^[16]
2016–17	Brabourne Stadium	Rest of India	Gujarat	6 wickets		^[17]
2017–18	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium	Vidarbha	Rest of India	match drawn	Vidarbha won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
2018–19	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium	Vidarbha	Rest of India	match drawn	Vidarbha won the Irani Cup through their first innings lead.
2019–20	Rajkot	Rest of India	Saurashtra	8 wickets
2020–21	In both of these seasons, the fixture was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic					^[5]
2021–22						^[5]
2022–23	Gwalior	Rest of India	Madhya Pradesh	238 runs
2023–24	Rajkot	Rest of India	Saurashtra	175 runs

Statistics

Team statistics

	Appearances
Team	Total	Champions	Runners-up	Shared/No Result
Rest of India	61	30	29	2
Mumbai	29	14	14	1
Karnataka	8	6	2	-
Delhi	7	2	4	1
Railways	2	2	0	-
Rajasthan	2	0	2	-
Vidarbha	2	2	0	-
Saurashtra	2	0	2	-
Hyderabad	1	1	0	-
Tamil Nadu	1	1	0	-
Bengal	1	0	1	-
Haryana	1	1	0	-
Punjab	1	0	1	-
Baroda	1	0	1	-
Uttar Pradesh	1	0	1	-
Gujarat	1	0	1	-
Madhya Pradesh	1	0	1	-

Broadcasters

BCCI's official broadcasters Sports18 and JioCinema air the match live on TV and internet respectively. BCCI's website, bcci.tv, airs match highlights and scores.^[18]

Sponsorship

Period	Sponsor	Brand
2007–2010	World Sport Group^[19]
2010–2013	Bharti Airtel	Airtel Irani Cup^[20]^[21]
2013–2014	Star India Pvt. Ltd.	Star Irani Cup^[22]^[23]
2014–2015	Micromax Informatics	Micromax Irani Cup^[22]
2015–2022	Paytm	Paytm Irani Cup^[24]^[25]
2022–2023	Mastercard	Mastercard Irani Cup^[26]
2023–present	IDFC First Bank	IDFC First Irani Cup^[27]^[28]

Notes

References

External links

A brief history of the Irani Trophy. Rediff, India.
Official website. BCCI.
Irani Trophy. SPORT195.
Index of all Irani Trophy matches. CricketArchive.

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