India’s most coveted first-class tournament Ranji Trophy is scheduled to commence from Friday and 28 teams will lock horns in 91 matches. The teams are divided into four groups and the ‘home and away’ format is back after the teams tried the ‘neutral venue’, which didn’t receive a lot of applause.
A look at the four groups and the schedule for the 2017-18 season:
Group A: Delhi, Karnataka, Assam, Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Railways
Group B: Gujarat (defending champions), Jharkhand, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Saurashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan
Group C: Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Baroda, Odisha, Tripura
Group D: Bengal, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Vidarbha, Services, Goa, Chhattisgarh
Round 1: 6th October to 9th October
Group A
Delhi vs Assam, New Delhi
Uttar Pradesh vs Railways, Lucknow
Hyderabad vs Maharashtra, Hyderabad
Group B
Kerala vs Jharkhand, Trivandrum
Rajasthan vs Jammu and Kashmir, Jaipur
Haryana vs Saurashtra, Lahli
Group C
Madhya Pradesh vs Baroda, Indore
Odisha vs Tripura, Bhubaneshwar
Tamil Nadu vs Andhra, Chennai
Group D
Services vs Bengal, New Delhi
Goa vs Chhatisgarh, Goa
Himachal vs Punjab, Dharamsala
Round 2: 14th October to 17th October
Group A
Railways vs Delhi, Delhi
Hyderabad vs Uttar Pradesh, Hyderabad
Karnataka vs Assam, Delhi
Group B
Saurashtra vs Jammu and Kashmir, Rajkot
Rajasthan vs Jharkhand, Jaipur
Gujarat vs Kerala, Nadiad
Group C
Baroda vs Andhra, Baroda
Madhya Pradesh vs Mumbai, Indore
Tamil Nadu vs Tripura, Agartala
Group D
Punjab vs Vidharbha, Mohali
Himachal vs Goa, Dharamsala
Chhattisgarh vs Bengal, Raipur
Round 3: 24th October to 27th October
Group A
Assam vs Railways, Guwahati
Uttar Pradesh vs Maharashtra, Dehradun
Karnataka vs Hyderabad, Bangalore
Group B
Jammu and Kashmir vs Gujarat, Jammu
Jharkhand vs Haryana, Ranchi
Kerala vs Rajasthan, Trivandrum
Group C
Andhra vs Odisha, Vizianagaram
Mumbai vs Tamil Nadu, Mumbai
Tripura vs Madhya Pradesh, Agartala
Group D
Goa vs Punjab, Goa
Services vs Himachal Pradesh, Delhi
Vidarbha vs Chhattisgarh, Nagpur
Round 4: 1st November to 4th November
Group A
Railways vs Hyderabad, Delhi
Delhi vs Uttar Pradesh, Delhi
Maharashtra vs Karnataka, Pune
Group B
Jammu and Kashmir vs Kerala, Jammu
Gujarat vs Haryana, Valsad
Saurashtra vs Jharkhand, Rajkot
Group C
Baroda vs Tripura, Baroda
Andhra vs Madhya Pradesh, Vizianagaram
Odisha vs Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar
Group D
Bengal vs Himachal, Kolkata
Vidarbha vs Services, Nagpur
Chhattisgarh vs Punjab, Raipur
Round 5: 9th November to 12th November
Group A
Assam vs Uttar Pradesh, Guwahati
Maharashtra vs Railways, Pune
Karnataka vs Delhi, Bangalore
Group B
Haryana vs Rajasthan, Lahli
Jharkhand vs Jammu and Kashmir, Jamshedpur
Saurashtra vs Gujarat, Rajkot
Group C
Tripura vs Andhra, Agartala
Odisha vs Tamil Nadu, Cuttack
Mumbai vs Baroda, Mumbai
Group D
Bengal vs Vidarbha vs Bengal, Kolkata
Himachal vs Chhattisgarh, Dharamsala
Services vs Goa, Delhi
Round 6: 17th November to 20th November
Group A
Delhi vs Maharashtra, Delhi
Assam vs Hyderabad, Guwahati
Uttar Pradesh vs Karnataka, Kanpur
Group B
Gujarat vs Rajasthan, Surat
Jammu and Kashmir vs Haryana, Jammu
Kerala vs Saurashtra, Trivandrum
Group C
Andhra vs Mumbai, Ongole
Tamil Nadu vs Madhya Pradesh, Chennai
Baroda vs Odisha, Baroda
Group D
Punjab vs Bengal, Mohali
Chhattisgarh vs Services, Raipur
Goa vs Vidarbha, Goa
Round 7: 25th November to 28th November
Group A
Hyderabad vs Delhi, Hyderabad
Maharashtra vs Assam, Pune
Railways vs Karnataka, Delhi
Group B
Rajasthan vs Saurashtra, Jaipur
Jharkhand vs Gujarat, Ranchi
Haryana vs Kerala, Lahli
Group C
Mumbai vs Tripura, Mumbai
Tamil Nadu vs Baroda, Chennai
Madhya Pradesh vs Odisha, Gwalior
Group D
Punjab vs Services, Mohali
Vidarbha vs Himachal, Nagpur
Bengal vs Goa, Kolkata
Knock-Outs
Quarter-finals: 7th December to 11th December
Semi-finals: 17th December to 21st December
Final: 29th December to 2nd January
