The 2018–19 Ranji Trophy was the 85th 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 ...

, the premier

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

tournament that took place in India between November 2018 and February 2019.

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Maharashtra, proposed state of central India, comprising th ...

were the defending champions. The final took place between Vidarbha and Saurashtra, starting on 3 February 2019. Vidarbha defeated Saurashtra by 78 runs in the final, to become the sixth team in the tournament's history to retain their title.

Background

In April 2018, the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at Cricket centre, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The BCCI is the richest governing body of cricket in the world ...

(BCCI) reinstated

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

for the competition, bringing the total teams to 29. In July 2018, the BCCI increased the total number of teams to 37, with the addition of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

Mizoram Mizoram () is a state in Northeast India, with Aizawl as its seat of government and capital city. The name of the state is derived from "Mizo people, Mizo", the endonym, self-described name of the native inhabitants, and "Ram", which in the Mizo ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

and

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Format

The tournament had four groups, with nine teams each in Groups A and B, and ten teams in Group C. All the new teams were placed in the Plate Group. The teams in the Plate Group were allowed to have up to three professional players in their squads. The top two teams from Group C and the top team in the Plate Group progressed to the quarter-finals of the tournament, along with five teams from Groups A and B.

Summary

League phase

The opening round of fixtures saw a total of 94 players making their first-class cricket debut. In the third round match between

and

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

, Vidarbha's

Wasim Jaffer Wasim Jaffer (born 16 February 1978) is an Indian retired professional cricketer. He was a right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right arm off-break bowler. He is currently the highest run-scorer in Ranji Trophy cricket, surpassing Am ...

became the first batsman to score 11,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy. In the fourth round match between

and

, Puducherry's Pankaj Singh set a new record for the most five-wicket hauls against different teams in the Ranji Trophy with 17. The fourth round of fixtures also saw the first occasion that seven captains scored centuries. In round five, Paras Dogra batting for

scored 253 runs against

. It was his eighth double century, going past Ajay Sharma's record of seven double centuries in the Ranji Trophy. Also in round five, Ajay Rohera set a new record for the highest score on debut in a first-class match. Batting for

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

against

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, he scored 267

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

, breaking the record of 260 runs set by

Amol Mazumdar Amol Anil Muzumdar (born 11 November 1974) was an Indian cricketer, domestically, having previously played for Mumbai and Assam. He was primarily a right-handed batsman. He held the record for the most runs scored in the Ranji Trophy, India's p ...

in 1994.

Naman Ojha Naman Vinaykumar Ojha (born 20 July 1983) is an Indian former cricketer. He represented India in International cricket. He made his Test debut for India against Sri Lanka on 28 August 2015. He retired from all formats of cricket on 15 February ...

became the most successful wicket-keeper in Ranji Trophy history, breaking Vinayak Samant's record of 355 dismissals as wicket-keeper. In the sixth round of fixtures, Milind Kumar of

became the first batsman to score 1,000 runs in this edition of the tournament. He did so in the match against

, in his ninth innings of the competition. In round seven of the tournament, Ashutosh Aman of

became the first bowler to take 50 wickets in this years' Ranji Trophy tournament. He went on to finish the tournament with 68 wickets, breaking the previous record of 64 dismissals set by Bishan Singh Bedi in the 1974–75 tournament. Round eight saw Pankaj Singh of

become the first

seam bowler Seam bowling is a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation when the ball bounces. Practitioners are known as ''seam bowlers'' or seamers. Seam bowling is generally classed ...

to take 400 wickets in the Ranji Trophy. In round nine,

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east a ...

and

were both dismissed for just 35 runs in one of their innings. The group stage of the tournament saw two captains retire from all forms of cricket. In November 2018,

Gautam Gambhir Gautam Gambhir (; born 14 October 1981) is an Indian politician and former cricketer, who has played all formats of the game. He is a current member of the Lok Sabha since 2019. He received the Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2019, t ...

initially stepped down as captain of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, before announcing his retirement the following month. Gambhir went on to score 112 in his final innings, his 43rd century in first-class cricket. Saurashtra's captain, Jaydev Shah, also retired from cricket in December. He made record for most matches as captain in Ranji Trophy. The ninth round match between

and Saurashtra was Wasim Jaffer's 146th match in the Ranji Trophy. He broke

Devendra Bundela Devendrasingh Bundela (born 22 February 1977) is a former Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman for Madhya Pradesh and made his first-class debut in 1995/96. He was a highly successful professional for Whitehaven Cricket Club 2001–03 ...

's record of playing in the most Ranji matches. On 2 January 2019,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

from Group C became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals, after they beat

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

by ten wickets. Ahead of the penultimate round of fixtures, ten teams across Groups A and B still had a chance to progress to the quarter-finals.

became the first team to qualify from Group A, after

beat

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

by two wickets in their final group-stage match. Despite the loss, Karnataka also qualified from Group A.

won the Plate Group and advanced to the quarter-finals. On the final day of the group stage, Saurashtra and

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

from Group A,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

from Group B and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

from Group C had also qualified for the quarter-finals.

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

and

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 ...

across Groups A and B were relegated to Group C, while

were relegated from Group C to the Plate Group for the next season.

Knockout phase

were the first team to progress from the quarter-finals, after they beat

by 113 runs. It was the first time in the team's history that they had reached the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy, beating their previous best of the quarter-finals, in the previous edition. The second team to qualify for the semi-finals was

, after they beat

by six wickets. Defending champions

beat

from the Plate Group by an innings and 115 runs to reach the semi-finals. In the last quarter-final fixture to finish, Saurashtra completed the highest successful run chase to win a match in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 372 runs to beat

by six wickets. The first semi-final saw the defending champions Vidarbha beat Kerala by an innings and 11 runs inside two days.

became the first batsman to score 1,000 runs in two different seasons of the Ranji Trophy.

Umesh Yadav Umeshkumar Tilak Yadav (born 25 October 1987) is an Indian cricketer who currently plays for Vidarbha cricket team, Indian national team, Middlesex and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. A right-arm fast bowler, Yadav has p ...

took his best match figures in first-class cricket, taking twelve wickets for 79 runs. In the second semi-final, Saurashtra defeated Karnataka by five wickets. Vidarbha defeated Saurashtra by 78 runs in the final, to become the sixth team in the tournament's history to retain their title. Vidarbha's captain

Faiz Fazal Faiz Yakub Fazal (born 7 September 1985) is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Vidarbha cricket team and Lisburn Cricket Club (NCU Premier League, Northern Ireland, UK), having previously played for Central Zone, India Red, India Under-19s, ...

said that "it is not easy to win the Ranji Trophy. To win eleven matches, it's not a fluke. If anyone thought last year was a fluke, we have proven ourselves again". For Saurashtra, it was their third straight loss in Ranji Trophy finals, with their captain

Jaydev Unadkat Jaydev Dipakbhai Unadkat (born 18 October 1991) is an Indian professional cricketer who has played for the Indian national team. He plays for Saurashtra in domestic cricket. He represented India in the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2010. In Ma ...

saying he was really proud of how his team performed during the tournament.

Player transfers

The following player transfers were approved ahead of the season. All the new teams in the Plate Group also transferred players into their squads, along with signing professionals.

Teams

The teams were drawn in the following groups:

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

Mumbai 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- ...

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

* Saurashtra *

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

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 ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

* Jammu & Kashmir *

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

Services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

Plate Group *

League stage

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

Plate Group

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ----

Semi-finals

----

Final

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Ranji Trophy Ranji Trophy seasons Ranji Trophy Trophy