The reigning Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai outlasted the Rest of India to reclaim the Irani Cup for the first time since the 1997/98 season. The Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai declared their second innings after scoring 329/8 and both teams decided to call it a day.
Mumbai have been declared the winners as they had aggregated a 121-run lead over the Rest of India after the completion of the first innings of both sides. This is Mumbai's 16th Irani Cup title (15 wins and one shared). The win has added yet another feather in Ajinkya Rahane's illustrious cap.
This is Rahane's fifth major title win as captain since 2018. Rahane had led India C to the Deodhar Trophy in 2018, helped West Zone win the Duleep Trophy in 2022-23, guided Mumbai to the Syed Mushtaq Ali title in 2022-23 and catapulted Mumbai to another Ranji Trophy title in the previous season.
Notably, Mumbai began the final day with an overnight score of 153/6. Rest of India came hard at Mumbai but could only manage to claim two more wickets in the form of Sarfaraz Khan and Shardul Thakur. Shardul's wicket was the last reason for Rest of India to rejoice as Tanush Kotian and Mohit Avasthi combined to stitch a 158-run stand for the ninth wicket.
Avasthi batted sensibly on a wicket which didn't show any discomforting wear and tear and scored an unbeaten half-century (51 off 93 balls). Right-arm off-break bowler Saransh Jain was the pick of all the Rest of India bowlers in the second innings.
Saransh picked up a six-wicket haul and finished with figures of 6/121.
The match was dominated by Sarfaraz and Abhimanyu Easwaran. While Sarfaraz laid the foundation of Mumbai's win with a terrific double hundred in the first innings, Easwaran played a captain's knock and scored 191 off 292 balls.
