The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the 15-member Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup 2024/25, starting on October 1, 2024. Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow will host this match.

On Tuesday (September 24), the men’s selection committee picked the 15-member Rest of India squad for the upcoming Irani Cup. They will face the reigning Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai in the Irani Cup.

SEE ALSO: Former Indian vice-captain lead Mumbai in Irani Cup

Rest of India 2024/25: Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, vice-captain Abhimanyu Easwaran

Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead the Rest of India, while Abhimanyu Easwaran will play the vice-captain role of the team that has won a record 30 Irani Cups. The team has many other stars, including batters like Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal. 

In the wicketkeeper slot, Ishan Kishan and Dhruv Jurel have been selected for the Rest of India. 

Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal, Khaleel Ahmed, etc. have been named as the pacers of the team. Meanwhile, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar has been named along with the off-spinner Saransh Jain.

As Dhruv Jurel and Yash Dayal are also in the Indian squad for the second or last Test against Bangladesh at Kanpur, which will begin on September 27, they are required to be released from the Test squad to participate in the Irani Cup. 

The Rest of India have won all the last three Irani Cups, while the last time they lost the Irani Cup against Mumbai was in 1997/98.

Only one common name from the last Rest of India squad for the 2023/24 season

The Rest of India beat Saurashtra by 175 runs in the last Irani Cup. Hanuma Vihari was the Rest of India's captain in that successful match. In the meantime, only Abhimanyu Easwaran is the common name in the Rest of India squads for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons. 

Rest of India squad for the Irani Cup 2024/25

Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran (VC), Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK)*, Ishan Kishan (WK), Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar, Yash Dayal*, Ricky Bhui, Shashwat Rawat, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Chahar

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly shifted the venue of the Irani Cup 2024/25. The reigning Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai will face the Rest of India in the upcoming Irani Cup match, starting on October 1.

Previously, the BCCI had scheduled the Irani Cup 2024/25 in Mumbai. However, according to the latest ESPNcricinfo report, the BCCI has decided to shift the upcoming Irani Cup match venue due to reducing any weather disruptions, as Mumbai is going through an extensive monsoon.  

SEE ALSO: Sarfaraz Khan set to play Duleep Trophy before Bangladesh Test

Lucknow will host the Irani Cup 2024/25 

Lucknow will host the Irani Cup 2024/25 match, starting on October 1. It will be the first time Lucknow will host the Irani Cup match.

Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) secretary Arvind Kumar Srivastava told ESPNcricinfo, "This year's Irani Cup match will be held in Lucknow, and we are excited to host it."

Just like the previous years, the Irani Cup 2024/25 will run with only one game between the reigning Ranji Trophy champions and the Rest of India. 

Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy 2023/24 after beating Vidarbha by 169 runs in the final of the competition. 

While Irani Cup 2024/25 will begin on October 1, it will be the last day of the last game of the two-match Test series between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur. So, the Indian Test squad members for the Kanpur Test can’t participate in the Irani Cup. 

Rest of India won last three Irani Cups, Mumbai last won in 1997/98

The 30-time Irani Cup champions Rest of India have won all the last three Irani Cups (2019/20, 2022/23, and 2023/24; 2020/21 and 2021/22 Irani Cup tournaments were cancelled due to COVID-19). 

The 14-time Irani Cup champions Mumbai last played an Irani Cup match in the 2015/16 season, when they lost against the Rest of India by four wickets. Last time they won an Irani Cup was in the 1997/98 season, when they won by 54 runs.

Ranji Trophy champions Madhya Pradesh will take on Rest of India in the Irani Cup 2023 fixture, starting from March 1 in Gwalior. The match was initially slated to be played in Indore but due to the third Test between India vs Australia coinciding the schedule, it was move to Gwalior. It will be the first first-class match in Gwalior to be played in more than six years.

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For the unversed, the Irani Cup is one-off fixture where the Ranji Trophy holders take on a combined team formed as Rest of India. The fixture usually takes place in the beginning of the new domestic season.

Madhya Pradesh will have the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Avesh Khan in the team while Himanshu Mantri is set to the lead the squad with regular captain Aditya Shrivastava set to miss. The most notable miss in the match will be Sarfaraz Khan as he will not feature for the Rest of India after sustaining an injury.

Irani Cup 2023: LIVE Streaming, When and Where to Watch

The Irani Cup 2023 match will telecast on the Star Sports Network. Indian viewers can also live stream the match on Disney+Hotstar network.

Irani Cup 2023: Squads

Rest of India squad: Mayank Agarwal (capt), Sudip Kumar Gharami, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Harvik Desai, Mukesh Kumar, Atit Sheth, Chetan Sakariya, Navdeep Saini, Upendra Yadav (wk), Mayank Markande, Saurabh Kumar, Akash Deep, B Indrajith, Pulkit Narang, Yash Dhull

Madhya Pradesh squad: Himanshu Mantri (capt & wk), Rajat Patidar, Yash Dubey, Harsh Gawli, Shubham Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Aman Solanki, Kumar Kartikeya, Saransh Jain, Avesh Khan, Ankit Kushwah, Gaurav Yadav, Anubhav Agarwal, Mihir Hirwani