India's domestic cricket season began with the Duleep Trophy followed by the Irani Cup and now is the turn of the premier first-class competition - Ranji Trophy. As the 90th season of India's domestic cricket tournament braces to begin on 11 October, it will do so with an overhaul in structure while most other things will remain the same.
What has changed?
After being proposed in May, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Apex Council approved in June that the Ranji Trophy will be played in two phases instead of one. Unlike previous seasons where limited over competitions - Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - got the calendar underway, this time they've been sandwiched with Ranji Trophy getting the ball rolling.
A host of innovative changes were proposed, and approved, to breathe new life into the domestic cricket structure with Ranji Trophy being one of them.
The proposed changes were brought in by the working group of then India men’s head coach Rahul Dravid, National Cricket Academy head VVS Laxman, men’s national team chief selector Ajit Agarkar and former India fast bowler Abey Kuruvilla, the BCCI general manager for domestic cricket.
Two phases for the Ranji Trophy: The Ranji Trophy units, players, coaches and BCCI stakeholders took into consideration the lack of game time during the winter season in north India.
As a result, the 2024-25 season will begin in October (on 11 October), with each team playing five league games during a five week window (until 13 November), before the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20s) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (50 overs) begins. The last two group fixtures will be scheduled for January 2025 (starting 23 January) with the knockout phase from 8 February. The Ranji Trophy final is scheduled for February 26 to March 2.
In contrast, the 2023-24 season was played predominantly between January and March.
Extra gap 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-final, Thakur said it was “extremely tough on domestic players to play 10 games in a row with just a three-day gap”.
Not just Shardul, Dravid, too, had touched upon the importance of "hearing the players" while planning the domestic schedules owing to the sheer volume of matches.
In order to "fortify the core of domestic cricket while prioritising "player well-being", BCCI has introduced an extra day's gap between matches, making it four days as against three, which was the case until the 2023-24 season.
What is the format of 2024-25 Ranji Trophy?
The tournament features 38 teams divided into five groups. Four groups, labeled Elite A through Elite D, will each consist of eight teams each, while the remaining six teams will compete in the Plate group.
Teams will face all other teams in their respective groups, resulting in separate tables for each group. The finalists from the Plate group knockout matches will earn promotion to the Elite groups for the 2025-26 season, while the bottom two teams in the combined Elite group table will be relegated to the Plate group for the following season.
Two teams from each Elite group will qualify for the knockouts, which includes the quarterfinals, offering them a chance to progress further in the tournament.
