The 1943–44 Ranji Trophy was the tenth season of the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

Western India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of its western part. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Union te ...

won their only title defeating

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

in the final. This season could be considered as the arbitrary starting point of high scoring in Indian domestic cricket that would last till the end of the decade. In the final of the

Bombay Pentangular The Bombay Quadrangular was an influential cricket tournament held in Bombay, British India between 1892–93 and 1945–46. At other times it was known variously as the Presidency Match, Bombay Triangular, and the Bombay Pentangular. Presidency ...

in early December 1943,

Vijay Merchant Vijay Singh Madhavji Merchant , real name Vijay Madhav Thackersey (12 October 1911 – 27 October 1987) was an Indian cricketer. A right-hand batter and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler, Merchant played first-class cricket for Bombay c ...

and

Vijay Hazare Vijay Samuel Hazare (11 March 1915 – 18 December 2004) was an Indian cricketer. He captained India in 14 matches between 1951 and 1953. In India's 25th Test match, nearly 20 years after India achieved Test status, he led India to its first ...

scored 250* and 309. It was the prelude to Merchant setting a new Ranji and Indian first class record of 359* for

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

against

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

between 31 December 1943, and 2 January 1944, at the

Brabourne Stadium The Brabourne Stadium is a cricket ground in Mumbai in Western India, built in the British Bombay era. It was the home ground of the Mumbai men's and women's cricket teams. It can accommodate 50,000 people for sports matches. The ground is owne ...

in Bombay.

Highlights

* The Bombay-Maharashtra match set several national records. :* Bombay made 735, the highest score in Indian first class cricket bettering 703 by Bengal Cyclone XI in 1942-43. The previous Ranji record was 675 by Maharashtra v Bombay in 1940-41 :* Vijay Merchant's 359* was the highest individual score in India. Vijay Hazare's 316* for Maharashtra v Baroda in 1939-40 was the previous Ranji and first class record. :* Merchant and

Rusi Modi Rustomji Sheriyar Modi (11 November 1924 – 17 May 1996) was an Indian cricketer who played for the India national cricket team from 1946 to 1952. Modi belonged to Parsi community. His test career started at Lord's in India's first test in ...

's partnership of 371 was a national record for the sixth wicket. As of 2014, it is bettered only by 417 between Wridhiman Saha and Laxmi Ratan Shukla for Bengal v Assam in 2010-11Bengal v Assam, 2010-11
/ref> * Vijay Merchant's season batting average of 276.50 is the highest by any batsman scoring over 500 runs. *

Herbert Barritt Herbert William Barritt (12 February 1904 – 26 May 1967) was an English first-class cricketer and educator. Barritt was born in the North Yorkshire village of Cross Hills in February 1904. He was educated nearby at Keighley Grammar School, ...

captained Western India to the title. He was the third Englishman to captain a Ranji winning team, after Bert Wensley of Nawanagar in 1936-37 and Tom Longfield of Bengal in 1938–39.

Zonal Matches

West Zone

East Zone

North Zone

South Zone

Inter-Zonal Knockout matches

Final

Summary of first ten seasons

Scorecards and averages

Cricketarchive

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:1943-44 Ranji Trophy 1944 in Indian cricket Indian domestic cricket competitions