Ranji Trophy | |
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Countries | India |
Administrator | BCCI |
Format | First-class cricket |
First tournament | 1934 |
Tournament format | Round-robin then knockout |
Number of teams | 27 |
Current champion | Rajasthan |
Most successful | Mumbai (39) |
Most runs | Wasim Jaffer (8269) 1996- |
Most wickets | Rajinder Goel (640) 1958–1985 |
Ranji Trophy 2011–12 | |
The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between different city and state sides, equivalent to the County Championship in England and the Sheffield Shield in Australia. The competition is named after Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji (Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, also known as "Ranji").
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The competition was launched as "The Cricket Championship of India" following a meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in July 1934, with the first fixtures taking place in 1934–35. The trophy was donated by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. The first Ranji Trophy Championship was won by Bombay after they defeated North India in the final. Syed Mohammed Hadi of Hyderabad was the first batsman to score a hundred.
Mumbai (formerly Bombay) have been the dominant team in the Championship so far, with 39 wins, including 15 back-to-back wins from 1958–59 to 1972–73.
Most of the teams playing in the Ranji Trophy represent states of India; there are three teams that represent individual cities (Mumbai, Baroda and Hyderabad) and two teams based in Delhi but with no regional affiliations (Railways and Services). Moreover, teams representing regions within a state also participate (Saurashtra and Vidarbha).
From its inception until the 2001-02 season, the teams were grouped geographically into four or five zones – North, West, East, and South, with Central added in 1952-53. Initial matches were played within the zones on a knock-out basis until 1956-57, and thereafter on a league basis, to determine a winner. Then, the individual zone winners competed in a knock-out tournament, leading to a final which decided the winner of the Ranji Trophy. In the 1970-71 season, the knock-out stage was expanded to the top two teams from each zone, a total of ten qualifying teams. This was expanded again to the top three from each zone in 1992-93, a total of fifteen qualifying teams; between 1996-97 and 1999-2000, the fifteen qualifying teams competed in a secondary group stage, with three groups of five teams, and the top two from each group qualifying for the knock-out stage; in all other years, a full fifteen-team knock-out tournament was held.
The format was changed in 2002–03 season with the zonal system abandoned and a two-division structure was adopted – the Elite Group, containing fifteen teams, and the Plate Group, containing the rest. Each group has two sub-groups who play a round-robin; the top two from each sub-group then contest a knock-out tournament to determine the winner. The team which finishes last in each Elite sub-group is relegated, and both Plate Group finalists are promoted, for the following season. For the 2006–07 season, the divisions were re-labelled the Super League and Plate League respectively.
In the 2008–09 season, the current format was adopted to allow Plate Group teams to contest the Ranji Trophy. The top two from each Plate sub-group contest semi-finals; the winners of these two matches then join the top three from each Super League sub-group in an eight-team knock-out tournament. The winner of this knock-out tournament then wins the Ranji Trophy. In 2010-11 season, history was created when a plate group team "Rajasthan" not only entered into the Elite Group but went on to win their maiden Ranji Trophy final.
Knock-out matches in the Ranji Trophy are decided on the first innings result if the final result is a draw.
Points in the league stages of both divisions are currently awarded as follows:
Scenario | Points |
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Win Outright | 5 |
Bonus Point (for innings and 10 wicket wins) | 1 |
1st Innings Lead | 3 * |
No Result | 1 |
1st Innings Deficit | 1 * |
Lost Outright | 0 |
note* – If match ends in a draw.
For a complete list of teams which have played in the competition at some point during its history, see Ranji Trophy - Historical Note.
Group A |
Group B |
Group A |
Group B |
Team records[1] | |||
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Most wins | 39 | Mumbai (formerly Bombay) | |
Highest team score | 944/6 decl. | Hyderabad v Andhra | 1993–94 [1] |
Lowest team score | 21 | Hyderabad v Rajasthan | 2010 [2] |
Individual match records[1] | ||||
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Highest individual innings | 443* | B. B. Nimbalkar | Maharashtra v Kathiawar | 1948–49 [3] |
Best innings bowling | 10/20 | Premangsu Chatterjee | Bengal v Assam | 1956–57 [4] |
Best match bowling | 16/99 | Anil Kumble | Karnataka v Kerala | 1994–95 [5] |
Individual season records[2] | ||||
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Most runs in a season | 1415 | V. V. S. Laxman | Hyderabad | 1999–2000 |
Most centuries in a season | 8 | V. V. S. Laxman | Hyderabad | 1999–2000 |
Most wickets in a season | 64 | Bishan Bedi | Delhi | 1974–75 |
Individual career records | ||||
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Most career runs | 8319[3] | Wasim Jaffer | 1996–present | |
Most career centuries | 31[4] | Ajay Sharma | 1984–2000 | |
Highest career batting average | 98.35[4] | Vijay Merchant | 1934–1951 | |
Most career wickets | 640[5]† | Rajinder Goel | 1958–1985 |
† Some sources credit Goel with 636 or 637 wickets instead — see Rajinder Goel article for details.
The Bombay\Mumbai cricket team has played in 43 of the 66 Finals through 2011 and have won 39 Ranji Trophy championships, the most of any team.
Team | Wins | Appearances | Win % | Last win |
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Bombay\Mumbai | 39 | 43 | 90.7 | 2010 |
Delhi | 7 | 14 | 50.0 | 2008 |
Karnataka\Mysore | 6 | 12 | 50.0 | 1999 |
Baroda | 5 | 9 | 55.5 | 2001 |
Tamil Nadu\Madras | 2 | 10 | 20.0 | 1988 |
Bengal | 2 | 13 | 15.4 | 1990 |
Railways | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 2005 |
Hyderabad | 2 | 5 | 40.0 | 1987 |
Maharashtra | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 1941 |
Haryana | 1 | 2 | 50.0 | 1991 |
Punjab | 1 | 3 | 33.3 | 1993 |
Uttar Pradesh\United Provinces | 1 | 6 | 16.6 | 2006 |
Western India\Nawanagar\Saurashtra | 2 | 3 | 66.6 | 1944 |
Bihar | 0 | 1 | 00.0 | |
Gujarat | 0 | 1 | 00.0 | |
Madhya Pradesh\Holkar | 4 | 11 | 36.4 | 1953 |
Northern India | 0 | 1 | 00.0 | |
Rajasthan | 1 | 9 | 11.1 | 2011 |
Services | 0 | 2 | 00.0 | |
Southern Punjab | 0 | 1 | 00.0 |
Indian first class cricket teams in the Ranji Trophy |
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Andhra Pradesh | Assam | Baroda | Bengal | Delhi | Goa | Gujarat | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Hyderabad | Jammu and Kashmir | Jharkhand | Karnataka | Kerala | Madhya Pradesh | Maharashtra | Mumbai | Orissa | Punjab | Railways | Rajasthan | Saurashtra | Services | Tamil Nadu | Tripura | Uttar Pradesh | Vidarbha |
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