Ranji Trophy
Ranji Trophy: participating teams
Jammu and Kashmir cricket team
0
Jharkhand cricket team
0
Karnataka cricket team
8
Kerala cricket team
0
Maharashtra cricket team
2
Manipur cricket team
0
Meghalaya cricket team
0
Mizoram cricket team
0
Mumbai cricket team
41
Nagaland cricket team
0
Punjab cricket team
1
Railways cricket team
2
Rajasthan cricket team
2
Saurashtra cricket team
1
Sikkim cricket team
0
Tamil Nadu cricket team
2
Tripura cricket team
0
Uttar Pradesh cricket team
1
Uttarakhand cricket team
0
Ranji Trophy: First-class cricket home tour in India
The first-class cricket championship was formed in 1934. To date, 38 professional teams participate in the tournament. One game lasts from 3 to 5 days. The competition consists of a group stage, as well as elimination rounds. The most titled team of all time is considered to be the Mumbai cricket team. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is responsible for the tournament. Read a short review about the format, winners and records of the Ranji Trophy.
Ranji Trophy – general information
In India, in 1928, the Board of Control for Cricket in India was registered. It is the national sports body that is responsible for cricket in the country. Under the leadership of the Board, various professional tournaments are held in India, one of which is the Ranji Trophy.
The Ranji Trophy is a first-class cricket championship held in the country since 1934. The competitions are named after Ranjitsinhji (abbreviated Ranji) – one of the Princely state rulers in the period 1907-1933. He is also known for his excellent game of cricket.
The tournament is held in the first-class cricket format. This is the official classification of top-level international and domestic cricket matches. One match of this format lasts from 3 to 5 days (sometimes more).
The first season was held in 1934-1935. It was attended by 15 teams playing in 4 zones (South, West, North and East) in the format of playoff matches. A total of 14 first-class games were played. The first winner of the tournament was the Bombay cricket team (since 1995 Mumbai cricket team).
In 1952, another zone was added to the Ranji Trophy – Central, and since the 1957-1958 season, the tournament has been held in a round-robin format. At that time, 22 clubs had already participated in the championship.
In 2002, the format of the competition was changed. There were two main groups – Elite Group and Plate Group. There were two subgroups in each group. Fifteen teams played in the Elite Group, and all the others played in the Plate Group. In 2006, the name of the groups was renamed as Super League and Plate League, respectively. The top 4 clubs from the 2 Super League subgroups entered the playoffs, 2 more teams left the Elite, and the teams that took 1st place in the Plate League received a place in the Super League for the next season.
With each season, the format of the Ranji Trophy has changed and adjusted. To date, the tournament consists of 4 leagues. For a better understanding, we will summarize all the information in the table:
| Ranji Trophy (38 teams) | |||
| Group A (9 teams) | Group B (9 teams) | Group C (10 teams) | Plate Group (10 teams) |
| The top 5 teams from the two groups advance to the playoffs. The last two go to Group C | 2 the best teams go to the playoff stage and next season play in groups A and B. The worst club goes to the Plate Group | The best team participates in the playoffs, and next season goes to group C | |
In the group stage, each team plays nine matches. Such games last for four days. Then eight clubs compete for the title in the playoff round (matches last for five days).
Ranji Trophy – tournament records and other interesting information
In 1959, in honor of the anniversary of the Ranji Trophy (25 years), it was decided to create an annual one-day Irani Cup tournament. The match is played between the current winner of the Ranji Trophy championship and a team of the best players of the last season. Mumbai cricket team has the largest number of titles from the winners of a first-class tournament (14 wins).
As of 2021, the most titled teams of the championship are:
- Mumbai cricket team – 41 wins from 46 finals (last in 2016);
- Karnataka cricket team – 8 wins from 14 finals (last in 2015);
- Delhi cricket team – 7 wins out of 11 finals (last in 2008) •
- Baroda cricket team – 5 wins out of 9 finals (last in 2001);
- Madhya Pradesh cricket team – 4 wins from 11 finals (the last one was in 1953).
The latest champions of the Ranji Trophy (2021-2022) are the Madhya Pradesh cricket team. The 2020-2021 season has been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The highest team score by the number of runs on the account of Hyderabad cricket team is 935 (a match against Andhra cricket team in the 1993-1994 season).
The most first-class matches were played by the player Wasim Jaffer. In 24 years (1996-2020), he played 155 games. Wasim is also the best in the set of runs – 12,038.
Rajinder Goel is a former professional player who scored 640 wickets (a record) at the Ranji Trophy.
