Indian domestic cricket The season started with the Duleep Cup, followed by the Irani Cup and now it’s the turn of the top competition – ranji trophy. The 90th edition of the Indian domestic cricket tournament will kick off on October 11 and the structure of the tournament will be overhauled while most other aspects will remain the same.
What has changed?
Since being proposed in May, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approved by the Supreme Council in June ranji trophy The game will be played in two phases instead of one. The Ji Trophy is sandwiched in between.
A series of innovative changes were proposed and approved to breathe new life into the domestic cricketing structure, Ranji Trophy being one of them.
The proposed changes were proposed by then India men’s head coach Rahul Dravid, National Cricket Academy director VVS Laxman, men’s national team chief selector Ajit Agarkar and former India fast bowler, BCCI It was proposed by a working group formed by Domestic Cricket General Manager Abe Kuruvilla.
The Ranji Trophy is divided into two phases: The Ranji Trophy unit, players, coaches and BCCI stakeholders have taken the issue of lack of winter game time in North India into account.
Therefore, the 2024-25 season will start in October (October 11) with each team playing 5 league games in a five-week window (till November 13) before claiming the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20s) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (50 overs) begins. The final two group matches will be played in January 2025 (starting on January 23), and the knockout stage will begin on February 8. The Ranji Trophy final is scheduled to be held from February 26 to March 2.
In contrast, the 2023-24 season will be played primarily between January and March.
Additional gaps between matches: Seamer Shardul Thakur had complained about the lack of recovery time during the Ranji Trophy. After Mumbai beat Tamil Nadu in the semi-finals, Thakur said “playing 10 consecutive games in a gap of just three days is very tough for domestic players”.
Not just Shardul, Dravid also talked about the importance of “listening to the voices of the players” when planning the domestic schedule because of the huge number of matches.
In a bid to “strengthen the core of domestic cricket while prioritizing ‘player welfare’, the BCCI has added a day’s gap between matches, taking the gap between matches from three to four, which will remain the case till the 2023-24 season in this way.
What is the format of Ranji Trophy 2024-25?
A total of 38 teams participated in this competition, divided into 5 groups. The four groups are Elite Group A to Elite Group D. Each group consists of eight teams, and the remaining six teams will participate in the tablet competition.
Teams will face all other teams in their respective groups, resulting in separate tables for each group. The finalists of the Plate knockout round will be promoted to the Elite Group in the 2025-26 season, while the bottom two teams in the Elite Group standings will be relegated to the Plate Group next season.
Two teams from each elite group will qualify for the knockout rounds, which include the quarter-finals, giving them the chance to advance further in the tournament.
