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The Ranji Trophy is India’s premier domestic first-class cricket tournament, organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) every year. The tournament was established in 1934 and was initially known as “the Cricket Championship of India”. In 1935, it was renamed after Ranjitsinhji, the first Indian to play international cricket for England from 1896 to 1902.

This domestic cricket tournament features 38 teams, including representatives from all 28 states and four of the eight union territories, with at least one team from each. Mumbai is the most successful team in the history of the tournament, having clinched the title 42 times. They are the reigning champions, having defeated the Vidarbha cricket team in the final at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy 2023–24 edition.

History

A national first-class championship was proposed by BCCI founder A.S. De Mello. The Ranji Trophy was launched following a BCCI meeting held in Shimla in July 1934. The first match occurred on November 4, 1934, between Madras and Mysore in Madras (now Chennai).

In 2015, Paytm became the first firm to secure title sponsorship rights for the tournament. The 2020–21 Ranji Trophy season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This marked the first time in its history that the tournament was not held.

Participants

The tournament features state and regional teams with first-class status. Most teams are linked to regional associations, such as the Mumbai Cricket Association and the Karnataka State Cricket Association. Meanwhile, the Railways and Services teams operate on a pan-India level, representing the Indian Armed Forces.

All 28 states of India feature in the tournament, along with four of the eight union territories: Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry, and Jammu & Kashmir (which also includes Ladakh). Four teams represent specific regions within states: Mumbai and Vidarbha from Maharashtra, and Saurashtra and Baroda from the state of Gujarat. Additionally, Maharashtra and Gujarat play separately despite having regional teams. Telangana is represented by the Hyderabad cricket team.

Current teams

Here is the list of 38 Ranji teams:

Team	Home ground/s
Andhra	ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
Arunachal Pradesh	–
Assam	ACA Stadium, Guwahati
Baroda	Moti Bagh Stadium, Vadodara
Bengal	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Bihar	Rajgir International Stadium, Nalanda
Chhattisgarh	Nava Raipur International Stadium, Naya Raipur
Chandigarh	Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh
Delhi	Arun Jaitley Stadium
Goa	Dr. Rajendra Prasad Stadium, Margao
Gujarat	Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Haryana	Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Rohtak
Himachal Pradesh	HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala
Hyderabad	Hyderabad Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad
Jammu and Kashmir	Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar
Jharkhand	JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi
Karnataka / Mysore	M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Kerala	Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Madhya Pradesh / Holkar	Holkar Stadium, Indore
Maharashtra	Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Manipur	–
Meghalaya	Meghalaya Cricket Association Cricket Ground, Shillong
Mizoram
Mumbai	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Nagaland	Nagaland Cricket Association Stadium, Sovima
Odisha / Orissa	Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
Pondicherry	CAP Siechem Ground, Puducherry
Punjab	Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium, Mohali
Railways	Karnail Singh Stadium, New Delhi
Rajasthan / Rajputana	Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Saurashtra	Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot
Sikkim	Mining Cricket Stadium, Rangpo
Services	Palam A Stadium, New Delhi
Tamil Nadu / Madras	M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Tripura	Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium, Agartala
Uttar Pradesh / United Provinces	BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
Uttarakhand	Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun
Vidarbha	New VCA Stadium, Nagpur

Ranji Trophy teams (defunct)

• Central India: 1934/35 – 1940/41
• Central Provinces and Berar: 1934/35 – 1949/50
• Northern India: 1934/35 – 1946/47
• Sind: 1934/35 – 1947/48
• Southern Punjab: 1934/35 – 1951/52, 1959/60 – 1967/68
• Western India: 1934/35 – 1945/46
• Nawanagar: 1936/37 – 1947/48
• North West Frontier Province: 1937/38 – 1946/47
• Holkar: 1941/42 – 1954/55
• Gwalior: 1943/44
• Patiala/Patiala and Eastern Punjab States Union: 1948/49, 1953/54 – 1958/59
• Eastern Punjab: 1950/51 – 1959/60
• Travancore-Cochin: 1951/52 – 1956/57
• Madhya Bharat: 1955/56 – 1956/57
• Northern Punjab: 1960/61 – 1967/68

Format

Inception to 2001: From the tournament’s inception until the 2001 season (excluding 1948–49), teams were grouped into four or five zones: North, West, East, South, and Central (added in 1952–53). Matches were initially knocked out within zones until 1956–57. After that, a league format was introduced to determine zone winners and they then competed in a knock-out tournament leading to the final.

Expansion of knock-out stage: Starting from the 1970–71 season, the knock-out stage included the top two teams from each zone (10 teams), and later to the top three teams (15 teams) in the 1992–93 season. Between 1996–97 and 1999–2000, these teams competed in a secondary group stage before earning a spot in the knock-out stage.

2002–03 format change: The zonal system was jilted in favor of a two-division structure: the Elite Group (15 teams) and the Plate Group (remaining teams). The sub-groups in each group plays round-robin matches, with the top two from each Elite sub-group entering a four-team knock-out tournament. During this season, relegation and promotion between groups were established.

2006–07 division renaming: The divisions were rebranded as the Super League and Plate League.

2008–09 format adjustment: In this season both Super League and Plate League teams were allowed to compete for the Ranji Trophy. The top two from each Plate sub-group advanced to the semi-finals. These teams join the top three teams from each Super League sub-group in an eight-team knock-out tournament.

2012–13 adjustments: Dropped the Super League and Plate League names. The top tier extended to 18 teams (Groups A and B) and the second tier was reduced to nine teams (Group C). The top teams from each group advanced to the knock-out stage, along with relegation and promotion rules.

2017–18: The two-tier system was replaced with four groups of seven teams each, with two quarter-finalists from each group.

2018–19: Teams competed in three tiers. Five teams qualify for quarter-finals from the top tier (Elite Groups A and B), two from the second tier (Elite Group C), and one from the lower tier (Plate Group).

Match format: Round-robin matches are four days long, while knock-out matches will be played for five days. If there is no result in a knock-out match, the team leading after the first innings is declared the winner.

Points distribution system

Points are awarded in the league stages of both divisions as follows:

Scenario	Points
Win outright	6
Bonus point for inning or 10 wicket win	1
First innings lead in a drawn match	3
No result	1
Tie in first inning’s score in a drawn match	1
Loss on the first inning	1
Lost outright	0
Tie on both innings	3

Tournament Records

Batting records 

Most career runs

Score	Player	Teams	Career span
12038	Wasim Jaffer	Mumbai, Vidharba	1996/97 – 2019/20
9205	Amol Muzumdar	Mumbai, Assam, Andhra	1993/94 – 2013/14
9201	Devendra Bundela	Madhya Pradesh	1995/96 – 2017/18
9143	Paras Dogra	Himachal Pradesh, Pondicherry	2001/02 – 2023/24
8700	Yashpal Singh	Services, Tripura,Sikkim, Manipur	2001/02 – 2019/20

Highest individual scores 

Score	Player	For	Against	Year
379	Prithvi Shaw	Mumbai	Assam	2022/23
377	Sanjay Manjrekar	Bombay	Hyderabad	1990/91
366	M. V. Sridhar	Hyderabad	Andhra	1993/94
	Tanmay Agarwal	Hyderabad	Arunachal	2023/24
359*	Vijay Merchant	Bombay	Maharashtra	1943/44
	Samit Gohel	Gujarat	Odisha	2016/17

Most career centuries

Centuries	Player	Teams	Career span
40	Wasim Jaffer	Mumbai, Vidarbha	1996/97 – 2019/20
31	Ajay Sharma	Delhi, Himachal Pradesh	1984/85 – 2000/01
30	Paras Dogra	Himachal Pradesh, Pondicherry	2001/02 – 2022/23
28	Hrishikesh Kanitkar	Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan	1994/95 – 2013/14
	Amol Muzumdar	Bombay/Mumbai, Assam, Andhra	1993/94 – 2013/14

Most runs in a season

Score	Player	Team	Season
1415	V. V. S. Laxman	Hyderabad	1999/00
1340	Rahul Dalal	Arunachal Pradesh	2019/20
1331	Milind Kumar	Sikkim	2018/19
1330	Shreyas Iyer	Mumbai	2015/16
1310	Priyank Panchal	Gujarat	2016/17

Bowling records 

Most career wickets 

Wickets	Player	Teams	Career span
639	Rajinder Goel	Patiala, Southern Punjab, Delhi, Haryana	1958/59 – 1984/85
531	Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan	Madras/Tamil Nadu	1963/64 – 1984/85
479	Sunil Joshi	Karnataka	1992/93 – 2010/11
442	Vinay Kumar	Karnataka, Pondicherry	2004/05 – 2019/20
441	Narendra Hirwani	Madhya Pradesh, Bengal	1984/85 –

Best bowling figures in an innings

Score	Player	Team	Opponent	Season
10/20	Premangsu Chatterjee	Bengal	Assam	1956/57
10/78	Pradeep Sunderam	Rajasthan	Vidarbha	1985/86
9/23	Ankeet Chavan	Mumbai	Punjab	2012/13
9/25	Hyder Ali	Railways	Jammu and Kashmir	1969/70
9/29	Faisal Shaikh	Goa	Services	2002/03

Most wickets in a season

Wickets	Player	Team	Season
68	Ashutosh Aman	Bihar	2018/19
67	Jaydev Unadkat	Saurashtra	2019/20
64	Bishan Singh Bedi	Delhi	1974/75
62	Dodda Ganesh	Karnataka	1998/99
	Kanwaljit Singh	Hyderabad	1999/00

Team records

Highest innings totals 

Score	Team	Opponent	Season
944/6 dec	Hyderabad	Andhra	1993/94
912/6 dec	Tamil Nadu	Goa	1988/89
912/8 dec	Madhya Pradesh	Karnataka	1945/46
880/10	Jharkhand	Nagaland	2021/22
855/6 dec	Mumbai	Hyderabad	1990/91