Rishabh Pant, who was left out of India’s ODI squad for the upcoming series against the West Indies, has been named captain of the Rest of India side for the Irani Cup clash against 2025-26 Ranji Trophy champions Jammu & Kashmir. Sarfaraz Khan will serve as his deputy.
Pacer Akash Deep, who has been sidelined for an extended period due to a lower-back stress injury, has also been included in the squad, subject to fitness. Interestingly, his last competitive appearance came against Jammu & Kashmir in the Ranji Trophy in February 2026.
The Rest of India squad features Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Choudhary and Aryan Pandey among the pace options. In the spin department, Anukul Roy joins Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain, both of whom recently featured in India’s Test series against Sri Lanka.
The squad also includes R Smaran and Ayush Doseja, who finished as the top two run-scorers in the previous Ranji Trophy season.
The Irani Cup match between Jammu & Kashmir and Rest of India will be played from October 1 to 5 at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar.
Rest of India squad
Rishabh Pant (C, WK), Sanat Sangwan, Shikhar Mohan, Sudip Gharami, Sarfaraz Khan (VC), Smaran Ravichandran, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Choudhary, Aryan Juyal (WK), Aryan Pandey, Anukul Roy, Ayush Doseja.*
*Subject to fitness
