Ranji Trophy Cricket Schedule

In a country where cricket is a religion, it is surprising to note that the domestic premier first-class tournament isn’t so popular. 

The Ranji Trophy is now used to being played in empty stadiums and is an unknown entity for a generation that has grown to watch the IPL. Yet, India’s Ranji Trophy is still one of those tournaments that garners a lot of attention.

The tournament has its roots in 1934, when it went by the name of ‘The Cricket Championship of India.’ The Maharaja of Patiala agreed to finance the trophy and suggested the name ‘Ranji’ in memory of the legendary Sir Ranjitsinhji, who had passed away the previous year.

Ranjitsinhji was the first Indian cricketer to have played international cricket, albeit while representing England. He was credited with having invented the leg glance shot.

Jio Cinema will stream the Ranji Trophy live for viewers in India. If you are logging in from outside, try using a VPN and then use the streaming services.

The matches are also available on television in India with Viacom18 network.

The best options in your region are listed below.

Each state and union territory in India has at least one team in the tournament, and there are 38 teams currently participating in the Ranji Trophy.

Initially, the teams were divided into geographic zones (North, East, West, and South), with a new zone (Central) added later. Over the years, the format changed, and then the current two-division structure was adopted.

The Ranji Trophy then moved into two groups: Elite and Plate. What started as a two-tier structure evolved into a three-tier tournament. 

Currently, the teams play in the top tiers of Elite Group A and Elite Group B, with a second tier in Elite Group C and a third tier in Plate Group.

The knockout matches span five days, while the round-robin matches span four days. The beauty of the format is that the team leading after the first innings gets three points in case of a draw, which makes both teams go hard for a lead.

An outright win earns six points for the winner, while an additional point is on offer if the win is by ten wickets or by an innings. In the event of a draw, the first innings lead earns three points, while the other team gets one point.

Most recently in the Ranji tournament, 32 teams are classified into four Elite groups. The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals, from which stage it would be knockouts. 

There were six teams placed in the Plate Group, with the top four teams making it to the Plate semi-finals and thereby to the finals to determine who gets promoted to the Elite Group in the next season.

Mumbai are the most prominent team in the history of the Ranji Trophy, winning the title on 42 occasions. 

The next best team is Karnataka, with eight titles, and the difference in the number tells how dominant Mumbai has been in the history of this tournament.

Little wonder then that every season sees Mumbai start as the bookies favorite for the title. That said, recent years have seen unfancied teams like Saurashtra, Vidarbha, and Madhya Pradesh win titles, so keep an eye out for surprises. 

In fact, Mumbai won just one of the last seven Ranji Trophy titles, with Saurashtra and Vidarbha winning two times each in that sequence.