Rest of India cricket team
Rest of India cricket team: competitions
Rest of India cricket team: First-Class Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Irani Cup
29
1966-67, 1968-69, 1971-72, 1973-74, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1982-83, 1984-85, 1986-87, 1990-91, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2019–20
Rest of India cricket team: Indian cricket club
The professional cricket club Rest of India was formed in 1960. The team plays first-class cricket (matches last from 3 to 5 days) at the Irani Cup tournament. The Rest of India cricket team is unique in that its composition changes from year to year. The team is formed from among the best players of the last season of the Ranji Trophy. The last time the team played was in 2019. As of 2021, the club has 27 league titles in the Irani Cup championship. We introduce you to the main sports information about the unique cricket team.
Rest of India cricket team – tournament and team formation
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the sports governing body responsible for cricket in the country. The Council was formed in 1928. In 1934, the BCCI officially held the 1st Cricket Championship under the name Ranji Trophy. Its matches are held in the format of first-class cricket. That is, one game lasts 3-5 days.
The Ranji Trophy is contested by 38 domestic clubs representing different states and union states of India. The most successful club at the moment is the Mumbai cricket team. The team has 41 championship titles on its account.
In 1960, the 25th season of the Ranji Trophy was held. In honor of this, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has opened a new first-class cricket championship – the Irani Cup. The tournament is named after the former president of the BCCI (he was in office for two periods from 1928-1946 and 1948-1962) – Zal Irani.
This championship is unique in that there is only one match in it. The reigning Ranji Trophy champion and the annually formed Rest of India team play against each other. At the moment, the Irani Cup matches are held immediately after the end of the first-class season.
Rest of India cricket team – team results
Rest of India cricket team is a unique sports club. Its composition is constantly changing. At the official and professional level, the team plays only one tournament – the Irani Cup. Since 1960, the Rest of India cricket team has been formed annually from the best players of the last season of the Ranji Trophy. The only thing is that members of the club who are the current winners of the first-class tournament can not play for the team (actually, they will play but against Rest of India).
The team played its debut match in March 1960. Then the 1st season of the Irani Cup started, where the formed national team played against the Bombay cricket team (since 1995, it has been called Mumbai). The game was held on the territory of Feroz Shan Kotla. Unfortunately, the Rest of India team lost the first draw.
The 1st victory at the tournament happened in 1966. But then the final ended in a draw, and the national team shared the championship title with all the same players from Mumbai. However, the Rest of India cricket team achieved its goal and won the 1st full-fledged championship trophy the next year.
In total, the national team has won 27 (28 with a total victory) finals at the Irani Cup. Let’s make a list of teams that the Rest of India club was able to beat:
- Mumbai cricket team – 14 times, the last in 2016;
- Delhi cricket team – 4 times, last in 2009;
- Rajasthan cricket team – 2 times, last in 2013
- Karnataka cricket team – 2 times, last in 2000;
- Gujarat cricket team – 1 time in 2017 (the last victory of Rest of India);
- Uttar Pradesh cricket team – 1 time in 2007
- Baroda cricket team – 1 time in 2002;
- Punjab cricket team – 1 time in 1994;
- Bengal cricket team – 1 time in 1991.
As we wrote at the beginning of the article, the last time the Rest of India cricket team played at the Irani Cup was in the 2018-2019 season. Due to COVID-19, this was the last season of the one-day first-class tournament. Then the squad was formed from the following professional players:
- Mayank Agarwal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ronit More – all from Karnataka cricket team;
- Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Shreyas Lyer – all from Mumbai cricket team;
- Rahul Chahar, Tanveer UI-Haq – all from Rajasthan cricket team;
- Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Snell Patel – all from Gujarat cricket team;
- Ankit Rajpoot, Rinku Singh – all from Uttar Pradesh cricket team;
- Sandeep Warrior – from Kerala cricket team;
- Sai Ganesh – from Hyderabad cricket team;
- Ishan Kishan – from Jharkhand cricket team;
- Anmolpreet Singh – from Punjab cricket team.
We hope that soon the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the country will become less, and the Irani Cup championship with the participation of the Rest of India cricket team will resume.
