Fast bowler Mukesh Kumar delivered a devastating post-lunch spell on Sunday, 4 October 2026 at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar, claiming his 11th first-class five-wicket haul to bowl out Jammu & Kashmir for just 111 and hand Rest of India a 167-run victory — and their record 31st Irani Cup title. The win was sealed inside three and a half days, with J&K crumbling from 89/3 to all out in only 28.4 overs while chasing a target of 279.

Mukesh Kumar's Lethal Post-Lunch Spell

The Bengal pacer was the undisputed architect of J&K's second-innings collapse, finishing with remarkable figures of 6-33 in a relentless display of late movement and sharp length. His burst included three wickets in four deliveries, leaving the hosts' middle order completely shell-shocked. Bengal teammate Akash Deep, playing a comeback game, provided ideal support at good speeds to register 3-25, while Mukesh Choudhary removed danger man Abdul Samad to complete the rout.

Among the J&K batters, only Shubham Khajuria (36), Qamran Iqbal (32), and Abdul Samad (20) reached double figures. The rest of the line-up capitulated in the face of a relentless Rest of India pace attack, unable to withstand high-quality seam execution under intense pressure.

Smaran Ravichandran Named Player of the Match

The morning of the final day had begun with Rest of India resuming on 306/8, adding only 13 more runs before J&K fast bowler Sunil Kumar wrapped up the tail. The standout batting performance came from Smaran Ravichandran, who was dismissed for a well-crafted 135 off 153 balls, laced with 16 fours and 5 sixes — a knock that followed his 68 in the first innings. His match-defining century proved decisive in snatching the game away from J&K and earned him the Player of the Match award. All-rounder Sanat Sangwan contributed a valuable 55 in the second innings as well.

Pant's Birthday Gift and Sarfaraz's Leadership

The emphatic win doubled as the perfect birthday present for Rest of India skipper Rishabh Pant, who was confined to the dugout with fever throughout the final day. In his absence, Sarfaraz Khan stepped up as stand-in captain in the fourth innings and expertly marshalled the bowling attack to engineer the victory — a commendable effort given that Rest of India had conceded a crucial first-innings lead.

J&K's Costly Errors and Road Ahead

Despite opening their chase with purpose, J&K undid their hard work with poor bowling discipline across the match, leaking more than 20 no-balls across both innings. Those extras allowed Rest of India to claw back into the contest and facilitated Smaran's match-winning century. Notably, this contest exposed a recurring vulnerability in J&K's batting unit — the inability to absorb pressure when quality seam bowling is at its best.

The Ranji Trophy champions will look to draw lessons from this experience as they begin their title defence on 11 October against Madhya Pradesh in Srinagar.

Brief Scores: Rest of India 237 and 319 in 99.5 overs (Smaran Ravichandran 135, Sanat Sangwan 55; Sunil Kumar 3-56, Sahil Lotra 3-71) beat Jammu & Kashmir 278 and 111 in 28.4 overs (Shubham Khajuria 36, Qamran Iqbal 32; Mukesh Kumar 6-33, Akash Deep 3-25) by 167 runs.