Ranji Trophy to get underway on January 13, final in Kolkata
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has scheduled the start of Ranji Trophy on January 13, with the tournament to be played across six venues in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum and Chennai. Kolkata will host the knockouts, with the final scheduled for March 16-20.
The BCCI has announced the complete domestic schedule, with neutral venues to be used across all tournaments. The teams have been divided into six groups this domestic season - five Elite comprising six teams and one Plate with eight teams.
The six Ranji Trophy groups will be hosted by as many different venues - Mumbai (Group A), Bengaluru (Group B), Kolkata (Group C), Ahmedabad (Group D), Thiruvananthapuram (Group E) and Chennai (Plate Group).
The teams will undergo a five-day quarantine, with two days reserved for practice before the tournament kick starts on January 13. Another five-day quarantine will follow, before the knockouts begin in Kolkata on February 20.
The five-day quarter-finals will be played from February 28 to March 3, while the semi-final will begin on March 8. The final has been scheduled for March 16-20.
The detailed schedule confirms the hosting of India’s premier first-class tournament, after it had been cancelled last year due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will begin on November 4, with six venues being allotted to the groups as follows: Lucknow (Group A), Guwahati (Group B), Baroda (Group C), Delhi (Group D), Haryana (Group E) and Vijayawada (Plate Group). Delhi will host the knockouts from November 16 to 22.
The groupings for the Vijay Hazare Trophy have been declared too, with the venues yet to be finalised for the List A competition, beginning December 8.
Ranji Trophy Groupings:
Elite A (Mumbai): Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Services, Assam.
Elite B (Bengaluru): Bengal, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Kerala, Haryana, Tripura.
Elite C (Kolkata): Karnataka, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand.
Elite D (Ahmedabad): Saurashtra, Tamil Nadu, Railways, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Goa.
Elite E (Thiruvananthapuram): Andhra, Uttar Pradesh, Baroda, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Pondicherry.
Plate (Chennai): Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh.
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy
Elite A (Lucknow): Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Maharashtra, Goa, Pondicherry.
Elite B (Guwahati): Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Mumbai, Baroda, Services.
Elite C (Baroda): Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra.
Elite D (Delhi): Railways, Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar.
Elite E (Haryana): Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad, Uttarakhand, Saurashtra, Delhi, Chandigarh.
Plate Group (Vijayawada): Tripura, Vidarbha, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram.
Vijay Hazare Trophy (Venues: to be announced)
Elite A: Gujarat, Andhra, Vidarbha, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir.
Elite B: Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Baroda, Bengal, Karnataka, Pondicherry.
Elite C: Hyderabad, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Saurashtra, Haryana.
Elite D: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand.
Elite E: Goa, Punjab, Railways, Rajasthan, Services, Assam.
Plate Group: Tripura, Bihar, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur.