India’s elite domestic tournament in red-ball cricket, Ranji Trophy 2024 is all set to start on January 5 & will be played until Match 14 in India. Organized by BCCI Ranji Trophy will feature 38 teams playing a total number of 137 matches. The teams have been divided into two categories, elite & plate. The elite category will have 32 teams divided into four groups of eight teams each. On the other hand, there are six teams in the Plate Category.
Each team placed in the elite category will play with seven other teams in their group at least once. Later the top two teams from each elite group will march into the quarter-finals. The Plate Division will see each team playing with the other five teams at least once. The top four teams out of six will move to the Plate Group knockouts. According to the Ranji Trophy format, the two finalists from the Plate Group will be promoted to the elite group for the next season. The two bottom-placed teams from the elite groups – factoring in both points and the quotient will be relegated to the plate group.
Saurashtra are the defending Champions. They defeated Bengal in the Ranji Trophy final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata last year by nine wickets. Meanwhile, Mumbai are the most successful team in the Ranji Trophy history with 41 titles in their kitty. Karnataka is placed second on the list with eight titles while Delhi has won the tournament seven times.
Saurashtra is placed in a tough group alongside Vidrabha & Haryana. Group B has Andhra, Assam & last season’s runners-up Bengal. It will be quite interesting to see how Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Sikkim will perform in the Ranji Trophy as they have earned a promotion from the plate category to the elite.
What are Elite & Plate categories in the Ranji Trophy?
The Ranji Trophy is played in two divisions Elite & Plate Categories. In the Elite stage, 32 teams take part with the other six teams for the Plate Division. Thesetwo divisions ensure quality of the tournament does not come down & the teams are playing for motivation of promotion & fear of relegation.
Six teams in the Plate stage have a chance to be promoted to the elite stage while the teams in the top category face relgation for poor show.
Ranji Trophy 2024 groups and teams
Elite Group A: Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Services, Vidarbha
Elite Group B: Andhra, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh
Elite Group C: Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab, Railways, Tamil Nadu, Tripura
Elite Group D: Baroda, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry, Uttarakhand
Plate: Nagaland, Hyderabad, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh
What are the Venues for Ranji Trophy 2024?
Ranji Trophy 2024 will be played across the country even at the remote places. The tournament will be held across 48 venues while the Plate League will be staged in five venues.
Where to watch Ranji Trophy 2024 matches live
The Ranji Trophy 2024 will be telecast live on Sports18 Network’s TV channels in India.
Live streaming of the Ranji Trophy 2024 matches will be available on the JioCinema app and website.
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