Irani Trophy Cricket
The Irani Trophy tournament was conceived during the 1959-60 season to mark the completion of 25 years of the Ranji Trophy championship and was named after the late Z.R. Irani, who was associated with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from its inception in 1928, till his death in 1970. The fixture is always played between the previous year's Ranji Trophy winners and the Rest of India Team.Irani Trophy History
The first match, played between the Ranji Trophy champions and the Rest of India was played in 1959-60 with the trophy being instituted in the name of Zal Irani, long time treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and a keen patron of the game. For the first few years, it was played at the fag end of the season. Realizing the importance of the fixture, the BCCI moved it to the beginning of the season. Since 1965-66, it has traditionally heralded the start of the new domestic season.Irani Trophy 2006 News
Rest of India win Irani Trophy
Oct 11, 2006
The Rest of India completed an emphatic nine-wicket victory against Ranji Trophy champions Uttar Pradesh on the third day of their match at Vidarbha Cricket Association ground today.
Rest of India, who required 114 for a win, this morning completed the formalities for their 18th title win in the championship with more than two days to spare. Gautam Gambhir unbeaten on 64 along with Robin Uttappha's 18, and later Venegopal Rao (two not out) ensured the Rest's victory in 68 minutes, after resuming at 45 for no loss this morning. Overnight batsman skipper Wasim Jaffer did not resume his innings this morning due to a stomach injury sustained the previous evening against pacer Praveen Kumar.
The only wicket to fall this morning was that of Robin Uttappa, who held out to Avinash Yadav off Praveen Kumar. Gambhir looked in fine nick, executing three consecutive boundaries of paceman S Srivastava and eventually settled down to see his side through to victory. Sudhir Dabir, vice-president of VCA, gave away the trophy to the Rest of India skipper W Jaffer.
Irani Trophy 2006, Nagpur Day 3 : Rest of India 201 & 115 for 1 beat Uttar Pradesh 148 & 166 by 9 wickets
Rest of India need 69 to win
Oct 10, 2006
Two days of play completed and the Irani Trophy is all but over! Shocking as it may sound, Rest of India now need just 69 more runs to complete a win against Ranji Trophy champions Uttar Pradesh, with all ten wickets intact.
The four national selectors could be seen getting bored at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Tuesday, as they killed time watching what was clearly a below par contest. Batting a second time, Rest openers Wasim Jaffer and Gautam Gambhir knocked off 45 runs from 8 overs as they chased a modest 113 for victory. Earlier, resuming at 131 for 7, Rest made 201 in the first essay for a lead of 53 runs in reply to UPs 148. Tamil Nadus S Badrinath provided for the only bright spot of the morning, making a stylish, unbeaten 80 for the Rest. The middle-order bat, who has surely gained in confidence after the tour of Australia for India 'A', was unlucky to miss out on what would have been a deserving hundred, running out of partners.
Irani Trophy 2006, Nagpur Day 2 : Uttar Pradesh 148 & 166 vs Rest of India 201 & 45 for no loss
Uttar Pradesh wrest upper hand from the Rest of India
Oct 9, 2006
Its an exciting opening day at the Irani Trophy here on Monday that witnessed as many as 17 wickets tumble. Uttar Pradesh won the toss, ceded their initial advantage but managed to get the upper hand by the close of the days play.
The Ranji champions were off to a good start, riding on a 73-run stand for the opening wicket between Praveen Kumar (42) and Shivakant Shukla (52). Then their seemingly brilliant script went for a toss. Zaheer Khan and Lakshmipathy Balaji combined forces to spark a remarkable collapse that saw the Ranji winners lose their last nine wickets for the addition of just 75 more runs. Khan and Balaji chipped in with four scalps apiece, while Murali Karthick picked up the rest. Rest of India (RoI)started on a positive note with Wasim Jaffer and Gautam Gambhir putting on 64 runs for the opening wicket. Thereafter, the RoI innings suffered a fatealmost similar to UPs. Kumar snapped three wickets to spark a collapse that saw UP gaining the momentum back at the end of days play. RoI were 131 for seven at stumps on day one.
Irani Trophy 2006, Nagpur Day 1 : Uttar Pradesh 148 allout vs Rest of India 131 for 7
Zaheer in, Ganguly out of Rest of India squad
Oct 4, 2006
Sourav
Ganguly's chances of returning to the national team
took a knock on Wednesday after he was left out of the Rest
of {external} India squad for
the Irani
Cup tie. Baroda pacer Zaheer Khan got the nod ahead of Tamil Nadu's Laxmipathy Balaji in the 14-member Rest side that will be led by Mumbai opener Wasim Jaffer against Ranji Trophy champions Uttar Pradesh at Nagpur from October 9 to 13. VVS Laxman was another big name that was missing from the list, but the Hyderabadi batsman suffered a hamstring injury a few days ago and did not play in the Challenger Series. Ganguly had scores of 23 and three in the two matches he played for India Green in the Challenger Series, but chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar said the former Test captain still had a chance to make a comeback.
Rest of India squad:
Wasim Jaffer (Captain), Venugopal Rao (vice-capt), Robin Uthapa, Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Dinesh Kaarthick, V R V Singh, S Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, P Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Sourashish Lahiri, Yo Mahesh.