Srinagar: Skipper Rishabh Pant paid for his impetuosity while a set Sarfaraz Khan played a loose shot as Rest of India were bowled out for a below-par 237 by a spirited Jammu and Kashmir attack which missed its spearhead Auqib Nabi on the opening day of the Irani Cup.
Medium pacers Umar Nazir Mir (2/65 in 18 overs), Sunil Kumar (3/36 in 20.1 overs) and Lone Nassir (3/59 in 13 overs) shared the bulk of spoils with able support from spinners Abid Mushtaq and Sahil Lotra, who picked a wicket apiece.
At the end of the day’s play, comeback man Akash Deep showed the requisite sharpness to remove night-watchman Nazir (4) with a sharp bouncer as Jammu and Kashmir were left reeling at 21 for 2. Left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary had accounted for opener Shubham Pundir (1).
For Rest, Jharkhand left-hander Shikhar Mohan (60, 118 balls), who made quite an impression in the Duleep Trophy, struck a fine half-century while Ravichandran Smaran (68 off 83 balls) also looked impressive but failed to convert it into three-figure mark.
But two of the biggest disappointments on the day were Rest skipper Pant (10 off 36 balls) and his deputy Sarfaraz (45 off 97 balls) who should have consolidated the innings after the fall of initial wickets.
Sarfaraz did enjoy a 76 run-stand with Mohan, who hit nine fours and a six. The southpaw’s cover driving was top notch and he also hit a six off spinner Lotra over long-on.
In the case of Sarfaraz, he looked in a mood to slowly build his innings and hit five fours.
However, as he closed in on a fifty he just tickled an innocuous delivery from Nazir, which was going down the leg-side, and Kanhaiya Wadhawan completed a fine catch.
As far as Pant was concerned, he was watchful to begin with and he was on 10 off 35 balls, when his patience ran out.
In a typical Pant fashion, he gave Nazir the charge by trying to hit inside out, but J&K skipper Paras Dogra had wisely stationed Qamran Iqbal at short cover and he completed an easy catch.
In the middle-order, Smaran, who had a terrific 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season, provided glimpses of his talent with some exquisite shots but ran out of partners at the other end. Only Akash Deep (22) and Mukesh Choudhary (2) gave him company with stands of 39 and 43 for the eighth and ninth wicket, respectively.
Finally, Smaran perished while trying an expansive drive off medium pacer Lone, with IPL star Abdul Samad plucking it diving on his left.
Brief Scores: Rest of India 1st Innings 237 in 68.1 overs (R Smaran 68, S Mohan 60, Umar Nazir 2/65, Sunil Kumar 3/36, Lone Nassir 3/59). Rest of India 1st Innings 21/2 in 7 overs (Akash Deep 1/9).
