The Indian domestic season for 2025/26 is well underway, as the defending champions of the Ranji Trophy, Vidarbha, hosted the Rest of India for the Irani Cup at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Nagpur from October 1 to 5.
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In the one-off First Class fixture, where the Ranji Trophy winners from the season gone by face off against the best talent from across the country — Central Zone's Duleep Trophy-winning captain Rajat Patidar was named captain of the side consisting of the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan.
As Vidarbha convincingly defeated the star-studded Rest of India, we take a look at how things panned out in Jamtha.
Ranji champions Vidarbha clinch their third Irani Cup title
The hosts batted first in Nagpur and scored 342 runs in the first innings, courtesy of Atharva Taide's 143(283) and in-form Yash Rathod's 91(153) despite three-fers for Akash Deep and Manav Suthar.
While Abhimanyu Easwaran (52) and Rajat Patidar (66) got fifties each, captain Akshay Wadkar's bowling rotations helped Vidarbha dismantle ROI for just 214 runs.
Vidarbha took a first innings lead of 128 runs with the help of Yash Thakur's 4/66, alongside Harsh Dubey and Parth Rekhade's impressive spells, scalping two each.
Anshul Kamboj's 4/34 inspired an ROI comeback, but valiant 30s from Wadkar and Darshan Nalkande took the target to 361.
As the star batters from ROI failed at the top, thanks to Dubey (4/73) and Aditya Thakare (2/27), Yash Dhull's counter-attacking 92(117) and Manav Suthar's 56(113) brought them back into the match.
Thakur managed to dismiss Dhull and Kamboj on consecutive deliveries in a crunch situation to seal the title for the Ranji winners by 93 runs. Taide was named as the player of the match for his 143.
2⃣ in 2⃣ 🔥
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) October 5, 2025
Yash Thakur has turned it around for Vidarbha 💪
A fine innings of 92 under pressure from Yash Dhull 👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/DEPrpRoa7a@IDFCFIRSTBank | #IraniCup pic.twitter.com/baaPFBBa7E
How many Irani Cup trophies has Vidarbha won?
Irani Cup 2025 is Vidarbha's third triumph in the competition alongside their two previous titles. Every time they have won the Ranji Trophy, they have managed to back it up with the Irani Cup.
| Season | Result |
|---|---|
| 2017/18 | Match Drawn (Vidarbha won on the 1st innings) |
| 2018/19 | Match Drawn (Vidarbha won on the 1st innings) |
| 2025/26 | Vidarbha won by 93 runs |
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