Photo via Hindustan Times

Rishabh Pant to lead Rest of India against Jammu and Kashmir in Irani Cup next month

Rishabh Pant has been chosen to captain the 15-man Rest of India contingent, with Sarfaraz Khan serving as vice-captain, for the upcoming five-day Irani Cup encounter running October 1-5 in Srinagar. Their opponents are Jammu and Kashmir, who claimed their inaugural Ranji Trophy championship in the 2025-26 edition.

The Rest of India roster features fast bowler Akash Deep pending medical assessment, alongside Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sanat Sangwan, Shikhar Mohan, Sudip Gharami, Smaran Ravichandran, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Aryan Juyal, Aryan Pandey, Anukul Roy, and Ayush Doseja.

In separate national team updates, a side strain sustained during an opening T20I fixture versus Afghanistan in Delhi has sidelined spinner Varun Chakaravarthy from both the Asian Games and a single T20I contest in Japan. Uncapped leg-spinning all-rounder Vipraj Nigam, who claimed 11 scalps and posted 142 runs for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025 before recording seven wickets in a Sri Lanka tri-series with India A, takes Chakaravarthy's position.