Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep steer Rest of India to Irani Cup victory over Jammu & Kashmir

Rest of India defeated Jammu & Kashmir by 167 runs at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar on Sunday to win the Irani Cup, with Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep sharing the bulk of the wickets.

Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep both come from mofussil towns in Bihar, relocated to West Bengal to pursue cricket, and have represented India; their partnership has previously contributed to Bengal's successes in the Ranji Trophy. Mukesh, 32, took six wickets in the final innings while 29-year-old Akash claimed three, combining to finish off the 2025-26 Ranji champions.

Rest of India resumed day four on 306 for eight and were eventually dismissed for 319 in their second innings, R. Smaran adding nine to his overnight 126 before being bowled by Sunil Kumar. RoI had earlier posted 237 in the first innings while Jammu & Kashmir made 278 in their opening innings.

Chasing 279, Jammu & Kashmir began brightly, reaching 54 without loss in 10 overs as Qamran Iqbal took the initiative against left-armer Mukesh Choudhary, hitting a short-arm pull for six and then three successive fours in the eighth over; Choudhary's initial figures were 5-1-29-0.

The momentum shifted early in the second session when Akash trapped Qamran lbw at the start of the 11th over. Sarfaraz Khan, standing in as skipper with birthday boy Rishabh Pant indisposed, entrusted the pair of Akash and Mukesh to take charge and swiftly reaped the rewards. In the 14th over Mukesh had Shubham Pundir lbw and then bowled Paras Dogra with a ball that tailed away late to hit middle stump.

Jammu & Kashmir were bowled out for 111 in 28.4 overs; their second-innings scores included Qamran Iqbal 32, Shubham Khajuria 36 and Abdul Samad 20, with five byes and one no-ball among the six extras. RoI’s second-innings batting contributions featured Sanat Sangwan 55, Sudip Gharami 33 and Saransh Jain 25. RoI bowling figures in J&K’s chase read Mukesh 10.4-1-33-6, Akash 9-1-25-3, Mukesh Choudhary 8-1-48-1 and Manav 1-1-0-0; J&K’s bowlers in RoI’s second innings included Umar 25-2-92-3 and Sunil 28.5-5-56-3.

The contest was sealed an hour after lunch on day four, with Rest of India clinching the Irani Cup and Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep savouring the victory side by side.