India's Irani Trophy began as a one-off anniversary match
In March 1960 Indian cricket staged a single match to mark 25 years of the Ranji Trophy: the national champions against a side drawn from everyone else. It proved too good to drop. The fixture became annual, took the name of a long-serving board official, and has now been played more than 60 times.
The format is simple. The reigning Ranji Trophy winners take on a Rest of India team built from players of the other state sides, over one first-class match organised by the BCCI. The board named it after Zal R. Irani, who served as its president and treasurer and was a major presence from its founding in 1928 until he died in 1970.
After that first celebratory game in the 1959-60 season, the board decided in 1962 to revive the contest every year, though no match was held in 1964-65. The earliest three editions came at the end of the season. Recognising its prestige, officials then moved it to the opening weeks, and from 1965-66 until 2012-13 it served as the curtain-raiser for the domestic calendar.
Scheduling has shifted again since. In 2013 it was placed straight after the Ranji final, which produced two Irani matches within the 2012-13 season, and it has stayed at the tail end ever since. The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out two editions, so in 2022 the board played two back to back: the 2019-20 match at Rajkot and the 2022-23 one at Indore.
Across 61 matches up to October 2023, Rest of India appeared in every one, winning 26, losing 25 and drawing eight. Mumbai dominate the champions' side of the ledger with 29 appearances and twelve trophies. Karnataka have won six of their eight games, while Delhi have won two of seven. Railways won both their matches; Rajasthan and Saurashtra each lost two. Sports18 shows the game on television and JioCinema streams it online.
Source: Irani Trophy
