Jammu & Kashmir reduce Rest of India to 189 for 7 on the Irani Cup's first day in Kashmir

Sunil Kumar's nine maidens led a disciplined Jammu and Kashmir attack that had a Rishabh Pant-led Rest of India seven down on the first day the Irani Cup has been played in the Kashmir Valley

Paras Dogra put Rest of India in at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar on Thursday morning, and by the closing session of day one the Ranji Trophy champions had seven wickets. After 58 overs Rest of India were 189 for 7.

Shikhar Mohan's 59 was the innings' only half-century. Wickets fell at 8, 32, 108, 133, 137, 150 and 155, and no completed stand after the third went past 25.

Sarfaraz Khan and Pant both went in the middle of that slide, their dismissals a little over two overs apart.

Sunil Kumar ties up an end

Sunil Kumar, a central figure in Jammu and Kashmir's title run last season, had 2-30 from his first 19 overs, nine of them maidens.

His second wicket was Manav Suthar, lbw for 2 from 13 balls, the seventh to fall.

Sahil Lotra worked away at the other end and was 1-38 at that stage. Rest of India scored at a shade over three an over through the day.

Rest of India never settle

The first wicket went down at 8, and only Mohan built anything. He was the third out, at 108.

From there the innings came apart in short instalments, four wickets going down for 47 runs.

Smaran R and Akash Deep were together for the eighth wicket as the overs ran down, Akash Deep much the quicker of the two.

A short red-ball outing for Pant

Pant captains Rest of India and keeps wicket, with Sarfaraz Khan as his deputy. He was out in the 46th over, Sarfaraz having fallen in the 44th.

The fixture is Pant's red-ball cricket before India's Test season, after he was left out of the white-ball squads for the current West Indies series.

"Whatever is in front of me, I will give my best. That is how I play. I keep it very simple," he said before the match.

He was warm about the opposition. "The way J&K have played most of the season has been exceptional. They have done really well," he said.

Akash Deep is playing his first match in seven months after a lower-back stress fracture.

Champions without their leading wicket-taker

Jammu and Kashmir are without Auqib Nabi, whose 60 wickets were the most of any bowler in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy and who is now with India's senior Test squad, the first player from the state to be picked in one.

Dogra, in his 25th first-class season, has pushed his side past February's title. "We won the championship and it was a very good atmosphere. We have forgotten that now, now we have to think about the future," he said.

"The hunger is more now because we have won once," he added. "Doors have opened financially and opportunity-wise."

A first day in the valley

BCCI president Mithun Manhas rang a ceremonial bell before play began. The ground passed its inspection on 27 September, and the state association issued free passes for the five days.

The match is being covered with 20 cameras, DRS and Hawk-Eye. No international has been staged at the ground since 1986.

Scorecard: Rest of India 189 for 7 after 58 overs (Shikhar Mohan 59, Sunil Kumar 2-30) v Jammu and Kashmir, Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar, day one

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