The 2011-12 Ranji Trophy Super League, India's premier first-class domestic competition, will begin on November 3, the tours, programmes and fixtures committee of the BCCI has announced. The tournament's league stage will end on December 24, with the knock-out rounds slated between January 2 and 23, 2012. The second-tier of the Ranji Trophy, the Plate division, will run parallel to the Super League, with the winners of the semi-finals qualifying for the knock-out stages of the main event.
The Indian domestic season kicks off on September 1, with the Raj Singh Dungapur Trophy for corporates. The eight-day, 50-overs tournament will be played in Vishakhapatnam, Chennai and Bangalore. Reigning Ranji champions Rajasthan will take on Rest of India in the Irani Cup match from October 1 in Jaipur, which will be followed by the one-day Challenger Trophy in Nagpur from October 10.
The Duleep Trophy will be on from January 27, followed by the Vijay Hazare Trophy - the inter-state one-day competition - from February 20 to March 12. The zonal one-day competition, the Deodhar Trophy will begin on March 16.
The inter-state Twenty20 knock-out competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy scheduled between March 23 and 27, will round-off the season. Qualifiers for the knock-outs will be held in September-October this year.
Ranji Trophy groups:
Super League, Group A: Rajasthan, Karnataka, Mumbai, Railways, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Saurashtra, Orissa
Super League, Group B: Baroda, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh
Plate, Group A: Andhra Pradesh, Services, Kerala, Vidarbha, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura
Plate, Group B: Maharashtra, Goa, Hyderabad, Jharkhand, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir