Finance
The Ranji Trophy 2023–24, the nation’s main first-class cricket competition, gets underway on 5th January. With 38 teams competing in two categories, the competition will feature a number of well-known international players as well as up-and-coming talent.
Hyderabad, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh have all been moved to the Plate category.
Manipur and Bihar, meanwhile, have advanced to the Elite division. Whereas the Plate category matches will take place in five venues, the Elite category matches will take place in 48 venues.
Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, and other prominent international players will be in action and hoping to leave their mark, particularly in front of the five-match home series against England that begins later this month.
Defending champion Saurashtra will start their campaign against Jharkhand in an Elite Group A match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot.
Jaydev Unadkat will be leading the Saurashtra side and will be joined by veteran India batter, Cheteshwar Pujara. In the 2023-24 domestic season, Saurashtra failed to reach the knockout stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.
In Elite Group C, Gujarat, led by Chintan Gaja, will face Tamil Nadu at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium, Valsad. Left-arm spinner R. Sai Kishore will lead the Tamil Nadu side. T. Natarajan, whose last first-class game was his Test debut against Australia in 2021, is making a comeback to the side after three years, having last played in 2020 against Railways.
In Elite Group B, Chhattisgarh will face Riyan Parag led-Assam at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur. Amandeep Khare, the only cricketer from Chhattisgarh to have played for India in the U-19 World Cup, will lead the team.
Ranji Trophy 2024 groups:
Elite Group A: Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Services, Vidarbha
Elite Group B: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh
Elite Group C: Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Punjab, Railways, Tamil Nadu, Tripura
Elite Group D: Baroda, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry, Uttarakhand
Plate Group: Nagaland, Hyderabad, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh
Ranji Trophy 2023-24:
When: January 5 to March 14, 2024
Time: 9:30 AM onwards
Live broadcast on TV in India: Sports18 Khel
Live streaming in India: JioCinema
Source:IANS
