Rest of India

The ground is never chosen by Rest of India. It is chosen by whoever wins the Ranji Trophy, because the Irani Cup is played at the champions' own home venue. Rest of India travel to it every season, with no city of their own. The one fixed address is the Board of Control for Cricket in India in Mumbai, which administers the side.

The arrangement follows from the team's purpose. Rest of India are a first-class side drawn from every state association except the one that has just won the Ranji Trophy, so the champions face a team assembled from everyone they beat. The tournament is billed as the best against the best of the rest. The first match was played in March 1960 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi, now the Arun Jaitley Stadium, against Bombay, as Mumbai was then called. It ended in a draw. Bombay took the cup on their first-innings lead.

Mumbai have remained the opponent that matters most. They have won the Irani Cup 15 times. Rest of India have won it 30 times outright and shared it twice, in 1965–66 with Mumbai and in 1979–80 with Delhi. They have also finished as runners-up 30 times.

The side has occasionally played outside that frame. In 1971–72 it met the Indian national team in three first-class matches, staged to raise money for the defence forces. In 1989 it played a List A match against West Zone.

Squads are assembled and dissolved when the match ends.