The Ranji Trophy 2022 will be conducted in two phases between February 10 to June 26 at nine venues across India.
Ranji Trophy 2022
The first phase of the Ranji Trophy will feature 38 teams & 57 matches between February 10 & March 15 while the knockout phase will be held after the conclusion of IPL 2022 which will feature seven matches between May 30 & June 26.
In a letter sent to the board members, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah explained that the revised schedule was made in order to “mitigate any cross-transmission risk while also ensuring bio-secure bubbles are not overburdened.”
Format of Ranji Trophy 2022 explained in-depth:
Overall 64 matches will be played in 62 days in the premier domestic tournament. The teams are divided into nine groups- eight elite groups & one plate group. The Elite group will consist of four teams & the Plate group will consist of six teams. During the league stage, each team will play three matches. All the teams in elite groups will face each other in their group, while the teams in the Plate group will play against three sides from theirs.
According to the BCCI’s proposed plan, the top team from seven elite groups will make the last eight while the lowest-ranked team from the Elite Group will play a solitary pre-quarterfinals match against the Plate Group topper. The qualification process for the quarter-finals will become clear once the BCCI releases the playing conditions. The pre-quarterfinal will be played during the tournament’s league phase which will end before the start of the IPL on March 27.
The Elite Group matches will be held across Rajkot, Cuttack, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Delhi, Haryana, and Guwahati, while all the Plate matches will take place only in Kolkata.
The groups are as follows:
Elite Group A: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, & Meghalaya (Matches to be held in Rajkot)
Elite Group B: Bengal, Baroda, Hyderabad, Chandigarh (Matches to be held in Chennai)
Elite Group C: Karnataka, Railways, Jammu & Kashmir, Pondicherry (Matches to be held in Chennai)
Elite Group D: Saurashtra, Mumbai, Odisha, Goa (Matches to be held in Ahmedabad)
Group E (Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Services & Uttarakhand), group F (Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, & Tripura) & Group H (Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand & Chattisgarh) all their matches being played in Trivandrum, Delhi, Haryana, & Guwahati.
Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim & Arunachal Pradesh are a part of the Plate Group. All the matches of the Plate group will be held in Kolkata.
The Ranji Trophy was originally scheduled to start on January 13 but had to be postponed indefinitely due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in India. The BCCI has taken the decision to hold the Ranji Trophy after considering the encouraging recovery rates from the third wave of COVID-19. However, BCCI made it clear that they will host the tournament in the biosecure bubbles to reduce the risk of COVID-19.
“Ever since the decision on postponement was made, the board was working on several models to ensure that the tournament takes place as soon as the environment is safe and conducive,” Shah had written in a letter to state associations.
“We will continue to have bio-secure bubbles to mitigate any potential risk. The board is committed to providing a healthy and secure environment and seeks your support in ensuring a safe tournament for all our key stakeholders”, Shah concluded.