Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India. It is organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Teams representing regional and state cricket associations take part in the tournament. The BCCI founded the championship in 1934, and since then, it has been organised across various grounds and stadiums in India.
The competition currently consists of 38 teams, including at least one team from each of the 28 states of India and four of the eight union territories. When the tournament was founded, it was named "the Cricket Championship of India", in 1935 it was renamed after Ranjitsinhji, who was the first Indian to play international cricket. He played for England from 1896 to 1902.
The Mumbai cricket team is the most successful team of the tournament, with a record 42 titles to their name.
The Vidarbha cricket team is the current champion after winning the 2024–25 final over Kerala cricket team at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground.
History
The idea of a national level, first class championship tournament was proposed by BCCI's founder A.S. De Mello. The competition was launched following BCCI's meeting at Shimla in July 1934, with the first fixtures taking place in 1934–35.Initially the tournament was named as 'The cricket championship of India', it later was renamed. The trophy was donated by Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala in memory of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, Jam Sahib of Nawanagar who had died the previous year. The first match of the competition was held on 4 November 1934 between Madras and Mysore at the Chepauk ground in Madras. Mumbai has won the tournament the most times with 42 wins, including 15 back-to-back wins from 1958–59 to 1972–73.In 2015, Paytm became the first company to hold the tournament's title sponsorship right by virtue of BCCI's title sponsorship deal.
The 2020–21 Ranji Trophy tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first season since the tournament's inception that it was not held.
Participants
State and regional teams with first-class status and owned–operated by BCCI members play in the Ranji Trophy. Most associations are regional such as the Mumbai Cricket Association or the Karnataka State Cricket Association, while Railways and Services are pan-Indian.All 28 states of India are represented, as are four of the eight union territories: Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, four teams represent regions within states: Mumbai and Vidarbha and Saurashtra and Baroda, though Maharashtra and Gujarat play as separate teams; and there are two pan-Indian teams: Railways, representing Indian Railways, and Services, representing the Indian Armed Forces. The state of Telangana is represented by the Hyderabad cricket team.
Current teams
The following 38 teams currently participate in the Ranji Trophy:| Team | Home ground/s | First season | First title | Last title | Total titles |
| Andhra | ACA-VDCA International Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam | 1953–54 | – | – | – |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 2018–19 | – | – | – | |
| Assam | ACA Stadium, Guwahati | 1948–49 | – | – | – |
| Baroda | Moti Bagh Stadium, Vadodara | 1937–38 | 1942–43 | 2000–01 | 5 |
| Bengal | Eden Gardens, Kolkata | 1935–36 | 1938–39 | 1989–90 | 2 |
| Bihar | Rajgir International Stadium, Nalanda | 1936–37 | – | – | – |
| Chhattisgarh | Nava Raipur International Stadium, Naya Raipur | 2016–17 | – | – | – |
| Chandigarh | Sector 16 Stadium, Chandigarh | 2019–20 | – | – | – |
| Delhi | Arun Jaitley Stadium | 1934–35 | 1978–79 | 2007–08 | 7 |
| Goa | Dr. Rajendra Prasad Stadium, Margao | 1985–86 | – | – | – |
| Gujarat | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | 1935–36 | 2016–17 | 2016–17 | 1 |
| Haryana | Chaudhary Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium, Rohtak | 1970–71 | 1990–91 | 1990–91 | 1 |
| Himachal Pradesh | HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala | 1985–86 | – | – | – |
| Hyderabad | Hyderabad Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad | 1934–35 | 1937–38 | 1986–87 | 2 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar | 1959–60 | – | – | – |
| Jharkhand | JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi | 2004–05 | – | – | – |
| Karnataka | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore | 1934–35 | 1973–74 | 2014–15 | 8 |
| Kerala | Trivandrum International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram | 1957–58 | – | – | – |
| Madhya Pradesh | Holkar Stadium, Indore | 1941–42 | 1945–46 | 2021–22 | 5 |
| Maharashtra | Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune | 1934–35 | 1939–40 | 1940–41 | 2 |
| Manipur | 2018–19 | – | – | – | |
| Meghalaya | Meghalaya Cricket Association Cricket Ground, Shillong | 2018–19 | – | – | – |
| Mizoram | 2018–19 | – | – | – | |
| Mumbai | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | 1934–35 | 1934–35 | 2023–24 | 42 |
| Nagaland | Nagaland Cricket Association Stadium, Sovima | 2018–19 | – | – | – |
| Odisha | Barabati Stadium, Cuttack | 1949–50 | – | – | – |
| Pondicherry | CAP Siechem Ground, Puducherry | 2018–19 | – | – | – |
| Punjab | Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium, Mohali | 1968–69 | 1992–93 | 1992–93 | 1 |
| Railways | Karnail Singh Stadium, New Delhi | 1958–59 | 2001–02 | 2004–05 | 2 |
| Rajasthan | Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur | 1935–36 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | 2 |
| Saurashtra | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot | 1936–37 | 2019–20 | 2022–23 | 2 |
| Sikkim | Mining Cricket Stadium, Rangpo | 2018–19 | – | – | – |
| Services | Palam A Stadium, New Delhi | 1949–50 | – | – | – |
| Tamil Nadu | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 1934–35 | 1954–55 | 1987–88 | 2 |
| Tripura | Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium, Agartala | 1985–86 | – | – | – |
| Uttar Pradesh | BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow | 1934–35 | 2005–06 | 2005–06 | 1 |
| Uttarakhand | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Dehradun | 2018–19 | – | – | – |
| Vidarbha | New VCA Stadium, Nagpur | 1957–58 | 2017–18 | 2024–25 | 3 |
Defunct teams
The following teams have appeared in the Ranji Trophy, but no longer do so, partly because Indian states have merged and created over the years:- Central India
- Central Provinces and Berar
- Northern India
- Sind
- Southern Punjab
- Western India
- Nawanagar
- North West Frontier Province
- Holkar
- Gwalior
- Patiala/Patiala and Eastern Punjab States Union
- Eastern Punjab
- Travancore-Cochin
- Madhya Bharat
- Northern Punjab
Stadiums
| Stadium | City | Capacity | Home team |
| Narendra Modi Stadium | Ahmedabad | 132,000 | Gujarat |
| Eden Gardens | Kolkata | 68,000 | Bengal |
| Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium | Raipur | 65,000 | Chhattisgarh |
| Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium | Hyderabad | 55,000 | Hyderabad |
| Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium | Lucknow | 55,000 | Uttar Pradesh |
| Greenfield International Stadium | Thiruvananthapuram | 55,000 | Kerala |
| JSCA International Cricket Stadium | Ranchi | 50,000 | Jharkhand |
| Barabati Stadium | Cuttack | 45,000 | Odisha |
| Rajgir International Cricket Stadium | Nalanda | 45,000 | Bihar |
| Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium | Nagpur | 45,000 | Vidarbha |
| Arun Jaitley Stadium | New Delhi | 41,842 | Delhi |
| M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | Bangalore | 40,000 | Karnataka |
| Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Cricket Stadium | Guwahati | 40,000 | Assam |
| Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium | Pune | 37,406 | Maharashtra |
| M. A. Chidambaram Stadium | Chennai | 33,500 | Tamil Nadu |
| Wankhede Stadium | Mumbai | 33,108 | Mumbai |
| Holkar Stadium | Indore | 30,000 | Madhya Pradesh |
| Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium | Agartala | 30,000 | Tripura |
| Sector 16 Stadium | Chandigarh | 30,000 | Chandigarh |
| Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium | Rajkot | 28,000 | Saurashtra |
| Inderjit Singh Bindra Stadium | Mohali | 26,000 | Punjab |
| Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy International Cricket Stadium | Visakhapatnam | 25,000 | Andhra |
| Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium | Dharamshala | 25,000 | Himachal Pradesh |
| Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium | Dehradun | 25,000 | Uttarakhand |
| Sawai Mansingh Stadium | Jaipur | 23,185 | Rajasthan |
| Moti Bagh Stadium | Vadodara | 18,000 | Baroda |
| Mining Cricket Stadium | Rangpo | 17,500 | Sikkim |