AI Simulation, VID vs ROI | Vidarbha continue dominance over Rest of India with four-wicket win in Irani Cup 2025-26

ByUmesh Sharma,SportsCafe Editor

Yesterday at 9:06 PM

According to ChatGPT, Vidarbha will beat the Rest of India by four wickets in the Irani Cup to register their third successive win against ROI in this domestic contest. Harsh Dubey’s brilliant bowling performance, alongside crucial batting cameos, will help his side to continue their winning streak.

Pitch and Weather

The Nagpur surface is firm with a veneer of grass early on, expected to turn from Day 2 afternoon.

The weather in Nagpur on Wednesday will be mostly cloudy, with thunderstorms to be expected. The temperatures will be hovering around 32 degrees Celsius.

Toss

Rest of India won the toss and decided to bat first.

Lineups

Vidarbha XI: Atharva Taide, Dhruv Shorey, Aman Mokhade, Yash Rathod, Akshay Wadkar (C/WK), Harsh Dubey, Darshan Nalkande, Akshay Karnewar, Parth Rekhade, Yash Thakur, Thakare.

Rest of India XI: Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yash Dhull, Rajat Patidar (C), Shaikh Rashid, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Akash Deep, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar.

Match Report

After opting to bat first, the Rest of India had a brilliant start by the opening pair of Abhimanyu Easwaran and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Easwaran scored 47 runs off 92 balls, followed by Gaikwad’s 68 runs of 104 balls, with nine fours and a six. Following Easwaran’s dismissal, number three batter Yash Dhull failed to impress with the bat as he fell prey to Darshan Nalkande, scoring just 14 runs. Furthermore, skipper Rajat Patidar contributed with 39 runs off 57 balls, followed by Ishan Kishan’s 72 runs off 69 balls, with 10 fours and two sixes. These knocks helped India to post 298/9 on the board before they declared the innings. For Vidarbha, Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, and Akshay Karnewar scalped two wickets each for their side in the first innings.

In response to ROI’s 298/9, Vidarbha had a decent opening start of 49 runs by the opening pair of Atharva Taide and Dhruv Shorey. Khaleel Ahmed broke this partnership by dismissing Atharva at the individual score of 33 runs off 74 balls, with five fours. Following his departure, Dhruv Shorey and Aman Mokhade stitched a 34-run partnership for the second wicket before Mokhade fell prey to Akash Deep on the last ball of the 25th over. He scored 22 (39), alongside his effort to stabilise the innings with Shorey. Furthermore, Shorey went on to score 58 runs off 102 balls, with seven balls. Later in the innings, skipper Akshay Wadkar also played a crucial knock of 41 runs. However, these knocks couldn’t be enough for Vidarbha as they fell 44 runs short of the Rest of India’s first-innings total. ROI’s Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar, and Tanush Kotian shared six wickets between them.

Coming up with a 44-run lead at the end of the first innings, Rest of India posted 221 runs in the second innings. Easwaran was dismissed early at the team score of 38 runs in 13 overs; he could score only 25 runs off 52 balls, with four fours. Following his departure, Gaikwad and Dhull stitched a 59-run partnership for the second wicket. This partnership ended with Dhull’s dismissal on the third ball of the 27th over, at the individual score of 31 runs off 43 balls, with five fours. Gaikwad contributed with a 45-run knock, followed by Ishan Kishan’s 33 runs off 38 balls. On the back of these knocks, ROI scored 221 in the second innings, posting a 266-run target for Vidarbha to chase in the fourth innings.

While chasing the target, Vidarbha openers Taide and Shorey stitched a crucial opening partnership of 71 runs, which laid a strong foundation for their successful run chase. Khaleel Ahmed broke this partnership, dismissing Taide (44 runs off 77 balls) on the third ball of the 24th over of the innings. Later, Shorey added another important partnership of 42 runs for the second wicket with Mokhade (26). Shorey’s brilliant 63-run knock came to an end after his 35-run partnership for the third wicket with Rathod (31). Later in the innings, Wadkar’s 49-run knock, followed by Harsh Dubey’s (14) and Nalkande’s (18*) efforts, sealed the game for Vidarbha, scoring 267/6 and lifted the Irani Cup title. With this win, Vidarbha have registered their third successive win against the Rest of India in the Irani Cup.

Player of the Match

Vidarbha’s Harsh Dubey won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his brilliant bowling throughout the game as he picked a total of five wickets. Besides this, his important batting cameos of 29 and 14 also helped his side to get the better of the Rest of India.