Six months after India's domestic season opened with the Duleep Trophy, there's another red-ball competition, the Ranji Trophy no less, to look forward to with 38 teams competing across two leagues: Elite and Plate. Here's a ready reckoner.
How long does the tournament run?
The Ranji season beginning January 5 will run for ten weeks. The Elite final will be played from March 10, while the Plate final is scheduled for February 17.
Two categories then. So what's the format?
This has become the norm, essentially to ensure the tournament's quality isn't depleted.
The Elite competition will have 32 teams divided into four groups of eight. Each team will play seven league games with the top two from each group entering the quarter-finals. The bottom two teams from all the four Elite groups combined - factoring in both points and quotient - will be relegated.
The Plate competition has six teams that play each other once, with the top four making it to the knockouts. The finalists qualify for the Elite division for the following season.
Who has been promoted and relegated coming into this season?
Hyderabad, who lost six out of the seven games in 2022-23, joined Nagaland in the relegation queue. The others in Plate are Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim. Bihar and Manipur, who contested the Plate final last season, have earned a promotion this time around.
How compelling are the Elite groups?
Group A has defending champions Saurashtra alongside two-time champions Vidarbha, Haryana, winners of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Services among others. Mumbai, the 41-time title winners, are in Group B with Andhra, Assam and last season's runners-up Bengal. Karnataka, with eight titles, are among the strongest sides in Group C along with Tamil Nadu and Punjab, winners of this season's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Delhi, who have named a 26-member squad after opposing factions in the association sparred in the build-up, are in Group D.
How about a recap of the previous season?
It was a re-run of the 2019-20 final, with Saurashtra beating Bengal to clinch their second Ranji crown with Jaydev Unadkat, their captain, playing a starring role in the final. The heartbreak for Bengal forced Manoj Tiwary to do a U-turn, days after he called time on his career. Tiwary is set to begin his final season as captain, and hopes to sign off with an elusive title. Bengal last won the Ranji Trophy in 1989-90.
Alright - where are the games at?
The beauty of the Ranji Trophy is that it takes top-tier first-class cricket to remote corners of the country. For instance, the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Solapur, Maharashtra, will host a Ranji game for the first time in 29 years. The Elite tournament will be played across 48 venues, while the Plate league will be staged in five venues.
Who are some international stars in the mix?
With England coming over for a five-Test series in January-February, there might be a fair bit of focus on what Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara do when they play for Mumbai and Saurashtra respectively. Hanuma Vihari and Mayank Agarwal, the highest run-getter of 2022-23, will be leading Andhra and Karnataka respectively.
Kuldeep Yadav and Rinku Singh will be back in the mix depending on national commitments. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav will turn up for Delhi and Vidarbha respectively. In the Plate group, Tilak Varma will lead Hyderabad when available.
Are there any notable absentees to begin with?
Prithvi Shaw is still recovering from an ACL injury that needed surgery. He hasn't played any form of cricket since a brief county stint for Northamptonshire in July-August last year. He's likely to miss the first three rounds. Dinesh Karthik, who led TN in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, seemingly with an eye on the IPL, won't be playing first-class cricket, while Harshal Patel, who starred in Haryana's maiden Vijay Hazare crown, will miss at least the first two rounds due to a hip niggle. K Gowtham, the Karnataka allrounder, has been dropped with the selectors choosing to revamp their spin attack with an eye on the future.
What's the one aspect the selectors will keenly look out for?
Reinforcements for R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Rahul Chahar has committed to playing the entire season for Rajasthan and is hoping to make a mark in red-ball cricket. There's left-arm-spinner Manav Suthar, who made heads turn last year with 39 wickets in six games. Saurabh Kumar, a consistent domestic and India A performer, will be looking to level up as well. Among the younger crop of batters, Nikin Jose, Riyan Parag, Pradosh Ranjan Paul and Yash Dhull are worth looking out for.