Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) restricted Rest of India (ROI) to 237 on the opening day of the historic 2026/27 Irani Cup at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium. Medium pacers Sunil Kumar and Lone Nasir Muzaffar led the attack, taking three wickets each on a pitch that favored seamers throughout the day. At stumps, J&K reached 21/2, trailing by 216 runs.
After J&K captain Paras Dogra won the toss and elected to field first in the city’s inaugural Irani Cup fixture, the home side extracted movement from the Srinagar surface. ROI openers Shikhar Mohan (60) and R Smaran (68) provided the only half-centuries for the visitors. While Sarfaraz Khan made 45, the middle order struggled to maintain momentum. Analysis of the scorecard shows ROI suffered a collapse, falling from 108/2 to 155/7 before Smaran’s counter-attacking innings helped the total past 200.
ROI captain Rishabh Pant, whose red-ball form has been under observation, was dismissed for 10 runs off 36 balls. Pant was caught at short cover-point after attempting to loft seamer Umar Nazir Mir. Despite the low score, Pant spoke about his approach before the match. “For me, every game is an opportunity. I want to give my best,” he stated, indicating his intent to focus on the game despite external selection noise.
J&K’s bowling performance came in the absence of premier pacer Auqib Nabi. Nabi missed the domestic fixture to make his India ODI debut against West Indies in Guwahati on September 30. During that match, he conceded 84 runs in 8.5 overs, the most by an Indian bowler on debut.
In the final seven overs of the day, J&K lost opener Shubham Pundir (1) and night-watchman Umar Nazir Mir (4) to the ROI pace attack. The home side reached 21/2 at the close of play with the pitch expected to remain conducive to fast bowling during the morning session of Day 2.
