Ranji Trophy 2024/25: Preview Thread
Introduction:
Finally, its that time of the year again and the Ranji Trophy is back at a stadium/TV Screen/Laptop Screen near you. The BCCI to everyone's utter surprise has decided to keep the format as well as the grouping logic of the tournament same this year as well. Can you believe it? This is the 3rd consecutive year we'll be using the same format for Ranji Trophy without any major changes. With that being said, let's refresh our memories to what the tournament format is and the grouping logic employed to determine which team is placed in which group
Grouping Logic and Composition of Groups:
As mentioned earlier, the grouping logic used by BCCI is similar to the one employed last year. The position in knockout rounds for the teams that qualified have been made in determining which seed they are allocated. For example, defending champions Mumbai have been seeded in Group A, last year's runners-up Vidarbha are seeded in Group B and the 2 losing semi-finalists from last year i.e. Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are seeded in Group C and D.
The losing Quarter Finalists 1 to 4 are seeded in reverse order from Group D to A (Saurashtra in Group D, Karnataka in Group C, Andhra in Group B and Baroda in Group A), for the rest of the teams, their positions in the points table in last season's Ranji Trophy is used to determine their groups.
Grouping Logic Employed to determine the groups of various teams (Courtesy: BCCI)
This is how the groups this season stack up (Courtesy: BCCI)
Logic Employed in Calculating the Weighted Points Per Match (WPPM):
Since the tournament has had regular changes to its formats and the seeding system over the last 5 years, the need was felt to develop a Weighted Points Per Match to ascertain how the teams in a particular group are as compared to other teams in the similar group. Matches of Elite Division are weighed higher as compared to the Matches in Plate Division, plus the knockout matches in both elite and plate division are valued higher as compared to their respective group stage matches.
I've used a similar method developed by /u/nouseridavailable with a slight tweak from my end to account for the matches played in last 2 years
Weightage granted to points scored by teams over last 5 seasons
Plate Group Knockouts for 2022/23 have been slightly undervalued as compared to Elite Group Knockouts for the sole reason that despite the challenge that a knockout game brings with itself, defeating a team like MP or Karnataka in a knockout should be weighed higher than defeating Meghalaya or Sikkim (with due respect to all teams involved). On the basis of this Weighed PPM method, let's see how all the teams in each group, stack against each other.
Group A-:
Group A is spearheaded by defending champions Mumbai who have been the most consistent team in this group with one championship and one runners-up title in the last 5 years. Having acquired title no 42, the focus of Rahane's men would be to successfully defend it this season. Dhawal Kulkarni's retirement will be a big miss for Mumbai and the likes of Tushar Deshpande and Shardul Thakur will have to step up to lead their pace attack. Their spin attack is certainly one of the best in the tournament with Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian. Their batting will certainly be bolstered with Shreyas Iyer expected to be available for most of the season and he'll add to an already strong batting lineup of Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw and Musheer Khan. Expect Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube to feature for Mumbai at some point during the season.
They're followed by Baroda in 2nd place, who made Quarter Finals last season after missing out on qualification by bare margins in at least 2 of the other 4 previous seasons. Shashwat Rawat has had an excellent Duleep Trophy tournament and Baroda would be hoping for him to replicate his form if they are to have a shot at 2nd successive Quarter Final. A lot would depend on Krunal Pandya's leadership skills and the bowling attack as well which comprises of Atit Sheth, Bhargav Bhatt and Akash Singh. Raj Limbani, who was a part of India's U-19 team during the World Cup, is a young player to watch out for.
Services have been a team that has more often than not been close to the knockout places, but they haven't been able to break that barrier and qualify even once in last 5 years. They'll be hoping to break the streak for good this time. The performances of Pulkit Narang, Shubham Rohilla and Rajat Paliwal will be crucial for the team.
Maharashtra is another team that could challenge for that 2nd knockout place. Despite their best efforts, they've been mostly mid-table throughout this 5-year cycle. But this is a group where they do stand a chance of making it to the Quarter Final. They'll be hoping for the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ankit Bawne. Vicky Ostwal, Pradeep Dadhe, Nikhil Naik to step up for them and give them the best chance of qualifying from this group.
Jammu & Kashmir on the other hand have managed to reach the Quarter-Final once in this 5-year cycle. They'll certainly be a beneficiary of games in North India being hosted in October-November leg of the tour as a lot of their games were ending as draws due to inclemental weather conditions in North India during January. The fact that J & K will be able to play all their home games can significantly boost their chances to repeat their heroics of 19/20 and make the Quarter Final again. They'll be counting on Umran Malik, Vivrant Sharma and Abdul Samad to deliver for them.
Odisha, in the off-season have lost their star man Subhranshu Senapati to MP and he's certainly going to be a big miss going into the season for Odisha. In his absence they'd be hoping for Biplab Samantray, Debabrata Pradhan and Rajesh Mohanty to step up for Odisha. They're expected to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack in this group.
Meghalaya have made it back to the Elite Division this season on the account of being runners-up last season and they'll be hoping to not get relegated again. They'll be counting on Kishan Lyngdoh and Larry Sangma to deliver for them.
Don't be deceived by Tripura's place in these standings, they could be a dark horse in this group with the new signing of Mandeep Singh from Punjab who'll be replacing the departing Wriddhiman Saha, who will be going back to Bengal for one last dance. MB Mura Singh and Bikramkumar Das are players to watch out for Tripura.
Group B-:
The best team in Group B have been Vidarbha who have one championship in 2018-19 and one runner's up medal from last season to show for their recent successes. Faiz Fazal's retirement will be massive as he was one of the pillars of Vidarbha's batting but the team bolsters quality in batting with the likes of Karun Nair, Akshay Wadkar and Atharva Taide and bowlers such as Umesh Yadav and Aditya Thakare in their ranks. Vidarbha will be expected to make out of this group without many issues.
Gujarat has been the 2nd best team in this group. With batters like Priyank Panchal and bowlers like Chintan Gaja and Nagwaswalla, they also have quality in their ranks. They have a semi-final to show for as far as their latest record goes, with them also winning the title as recently as 2016/17.
The biggest signing that Andhra made last season was convincing their star player Hanuma Vihari to not leave the team after he handed in a request to move teams due to some political issues. With the likes of Ricky Bhui, KS Bharat, Nitish Reddy and Prithvi Raj in their ranks, Andhra will be hoping to make the Quarter Finals again at the expense of one of Vidarbha or Gujarat. After the captaincy debacle last year, Hanuma Vihari will be leading this Andhra team once again.
Rajasthan can be another surprise package this season. Bowling has been Rajasthan's strength as they boast the likes of Manav Suthar, Rahul Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed to name a few. Their batting will be heavily dependent on the likes of Deepak Hooda and Mahipal Lomror. While Rajasthan don't seem to have an out and out chance of qualifying there, they'd be hoping for some slip-ups and will try and capitalise on that.
Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are expected to finish mid table while Hyderabad will be hoping that their talismanic batsman Tilak Varma helps them secure a mid-table/lower mid table finish last season as they're finally back after spending last season in the plate division. Puducherry will be one of the hot favourites for relegation and will be hoping that their star paceman Gaurav Yadav is able to help them to avoid the drop.
Group C-:
Group C's Performances Last 5 Years
Looking at Madhya Pradesh's last 5-year performances, we can easily divide it into 2 phases. One is the pre-Chandrakant Pandit phase where MP was a mid-table team which was the first 2 years of this 5-year period and the second as the Chandrakant Pandit phase where they won the title on one occasion and made the semi-final on the other 2. In the off-season, they've further improved their team by signing star batter Subhranshu Senapati from Odisha. He'll be improving a batting lineup which already boasts the likes of Rajat Patidar, Himanshu Mantri and Venkatesh Iyer. MP also has a strong bowling lineup which includes Avesh Khan, Kumar Kartikeya and Saransh Jain. Pandit's men will be hoping to get out of what will be a tricky Group C which also includes teams such as Karnataka and Bengal.
Karnataka, the 2nd most successful team in Ranji Trophy's history has shown some of the strongest performances in the Group Stages of the tournament over the last 5 years only to whimper out in the Knockout phase. In fact, they have the most points in the Group Stage out of all teams in the last 5 years, i.e. 136 but their performances in crunch knockout games have resulted in them not getting hands on the trophy which has eluded them since the 2014-15 season when R Vinay Kumar's men lifted the title at the expense of Tamil Nadu. The team comprising of the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey, Devdutt Padikkal and Nikin Jose in batting and the likes of Prasidh Krishna, Vidwath Kaverappa, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Vasuki Koushik in their bowling lineup is good enough to win a Ranji Title but till now it has eluded them. Will this finally be Karnataka's year or not, I guess we'll find out in the course of next few months.
Bengal is another mega team in this Group of Death, which has consistently done well over the last 5 years, with 2 runners-up title to show for themselves in this period. The biggest talking point has been the much-anticipated return of Wriddhiman Saha from Tripura who had initially left the state side due to some disagreements with the CAB. He'll be joining an already strong batting lineup which boasts the likes of Abhimanyu Easwaran, Abishek Porel, Anustup Majumdar and Sudip Gharami. Bowling wise, Bengal has one of the best pace attacks in the tournament which boasts the likes of Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar. Mohammed Shami who is currently being monitored at the NCA is expected to feature for them at some point in the tournament as well. If Bengal successfully makes out of this group of death, then they certainly have the players that give them the chance to make a deep run and even win the whole thing.
Punjab, in this particular cycle and have made 2 Quarter Finals but haven't been able to go beyond that and as a result they're 4th in this group. They've lost Mandeep Singh to Tripura in the off-season. Punjab's firepower batting includes the likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Naman Dhir, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Nehal Wadhera. In bowling their pace attack is spearheaded by Baltej Singh and their spin attack by Mayank Markande. With the focus of Indian team on developing a left arm pacer for the Test team expect Arshdeep Singh to get some gametime for Punjab this season. Even though this is the toughest of the 4 groups, Punjab will be hoping to make out of this group and reach the Quarter Final again.
Next up in this group of death is Kerala who have been the semi-finalists in the 2018-19 season. Kerala is another team with decent quality all around the park. They've acquired the services of Baba Aparjith in the off-season from Tamil Nadu who strengthens an already strong batting lineup comprising of Rohan Kunnummal, Sachin Baby, Sanju Samson and Vishnu Vinod. Their bowling attack is led by the veteran Jalaj Saxena and includes the likes of Aditya Sarwate, Basil Thampi and KM Asif. Despite being a strong team with many domestic stalwarts, it will not be easy for Kerala to make out of this group considering the relative strengths of the team, although they'll be hoping to spoil a few parties and get in the top 2.
Uttar Pradesh has drawn 21 out of their 37 games in last 5 years and mostly have been due to the inclemental North Indian winters but with BCCI conducting the Ranji Trophy in 2 phases with North Indian teams hosting most of their games in October-November, it is hoped that such situation won't happen this year. They made the semi-final in 2021-22 season which was their best position in this 5-year cycle. Their batting includes the likes of Nitish Rana, Aryan Juyal and Rinku Singh. Bowling wise the team boasts the likes of Yash Dayal, Saurabh Kumar and Aaqib Khan. The injury to Kartik Tyagi and Mohsin Khan's decision to stick to white ball for now will certainly affect the quality of this UP bowling attack. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is expected to feature for UP at some point during this tournament.
Haryana haven't had the same success in Ranji Trophy that they've in the Vijay Hazare trophy of which they're the current holders. Their fortunes in the tournament will be dependent on the likes of Nishant Sindhu, Himanshu Rana and Jayant Yadav performing. Going by the trends, a mid-table finish will be ideal for Haryana but that won't be easy considering the relative strength of teams in this group.
Bihar had already begun their defence of the domestic drama cup by the in-fighting between the President and Secretary of the board regarding the selection of the team. After all the political drama, the team proposed by the President of the board will be fielded by Bihar. Their best performance came a couple of years back when they beat Manipur to win the Ranji Trophy Plate Championship. Veer Pratap Singh and Sakibul Gani have been their best performers recently. They're expected to finish last in this group.
Group D:
Group D's Performance Last 5 Years
Saurashtra overall have been the most consistent team of the last 5 years with a weighted PPM of 4.465. They've won 2 championships in this cycle in 2019-20 and 2022-23. With the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Arpit Vasavada and Harvik Desai in batting, Chirag Jani and Prerak Mankad as all-rounders and Jaydev Unadkat, Parth Bhut and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja as bowlers, Saurashtra is a team that oozes class in all departments of the game whether it be batting or bowling. They will be expected to get out of the group with such a team and they'll be hoping to make another deep run in this tournament.
While writing last year's preview, I mentioned Tamil Nadu as a team which has been underperforming especially considering the players at their disposal. And as true that was, it was quite refreshing to see them change that as they beat Saurashtra in the Quarter-Final, to book themselves a place in the Semi, which has proven to be their best run over last 5 seasons. With batters such as Sai Sudharsan, N Jagadeesan, Baba Indrajith and Pradosh Ranjan Paul and bowlers such as R Sai Kishore, M Siddharth, Ajit Ram and Sandeep Warrier, they'll be looking to build on their performances from last season and try to better it if possible.
Jharkhand has been a team which has constantly punched above its weight, making 2 quarterfinals over the last 5 years. The good news for them is the availability of Ishan Kishan for the entirety of the season, who missed out the last Ranji Trophy tournament due to personal reasons. He further improves a batting lineup which already has the likes of Kumar Kushagra and Virat Singh. Jharkhand will be hoping that Kishan's return will be helpful in them making out the group stage again.
Railways is a team that is expected to finish somewhere in the mid table. Finishing above will certainly be an over-achievement in this group, while finishing below will certainly be an under-achievement as there are teams in the group that are significantly worse than them. They'll be counting on the performances of Ashutosh Sharma, Upendra Yadav and Pratham Singh in batting and Karn Sharma, Akash Pandey and Himanshu Sangwan in bowling, if they're to challenge for the top 2 spot.
Delhi had a forgettable campaign last Ranji season. They're a young team which is in transition, and which seems to be majorly affected by the politics at the board level. An abysmal start to the last season led to the sacking of Yash Dhull from captaincy mid-season. And while under Himmat Singh's captaincy, Delhi improved slightly, they didn't end up reaching anywhere meaningful. Anyway, doom and gloom aside, they do have a talented squad which boasts the likes of Yash Dhull, Ayush Badoni, Anuj Rawat, Himmat Singh and Jonty Sidhu in batting and the likes of Harshit Rana, Himanshu Chahuan, Navdeep Saini and Hrithik Shokeen in bowling. A bit of support to the boys and less politics in the background will certainly help this team go far. Expect seasoned veteran Ishant Sharma to feature for Delhi at some point in this season and don't be surprised if Mayank Yadav turns up for Delhi during the course of this season. The team clearly has the talent to make the Quarter-Finals, but they need to buck up their ideas if they intend to get anywhere quickly.
Chhattisgarh seems another team that'll be eyeing a mid-table finish last season. They're yet to make out of the Group Stage in these last 5 years and it looks like that'll be the case this year as well. The performances of Amandeep Khare, Shashank Singh and Ajay Mandal will be instrumental in defining the course of the season for Chhattisgarh.
Chandigarh haven't had the best of the records in the Elite Division with no wins to show in the last 3 seasons, since their promotion to the Elite Division. Getting a win this year and not getting relegated to the Plate Division can count as a significant achievement for this team.
Assam despite their heroics in the white ball tournaments have only managed to muster 3 wins over the course of last 4 seasons, they'd be looking to improve their performances and upsetting the apple-cart of the other teams. Their fortunes will depend on the availabilty of Riyan Parag and the performances of Akash Sengupta and Mukhtar Hussain.
Plate Division-:
One major change this season in the Plate Division is that the Plate Division semi-finals have been scrapped. The top 2 teams at the end of the Group Stage will straight away compete in the Plate Final and get promoted irrespective of their victory/defeat in the said final.
Plate Division's Performance, last 5 years
Goa and Manipur find themselves relegated to the Plate Division due to their abysmal performances in the Elite Division last season. They'll be expecting to get promoted to elite division at the end of this season. Sikkim and Nagaland are other contenders for promotions. Mizoram will be expecting to better their performances from last season and Arunachal Pradesh will be hoping to win another game of First Class Cricket, a feat they haven't achieved in the last 3 years.
- Top 2 teams from each group will qualify for the Quarter-Finals.
- Top 2 teams from the Plate Division would qualify for the Plate Finals and will be promoted to the Elite Division irrespective of the result in the Final.
- Out of the 4 last placed teams in the 4 Elite Groups, 2 teams with the least no of points and quotient will be relegated to the Plate Division.