52-527: The Duleep Trophy , is a domestic First Class Cricket competition played in India . Named after former cricketer Duleepsinhji , the competition has largely been contested by teams representing various geographical zones of India since the first edition in 1961–62 , with some editions featuring special invitee teams. There have been a few exceptions to the zonal format, such as the 2002–03 tournament, where five teams were formed based on Ranji Trophy groups, and
104-555: A contemporary report (i.e., termed "a great match" in this case) and to have been played for a large sum of money was one in Sussex between two unnamed eleven-a-side teams contesting "fifty guineas apiece" in June 1697, a match of enormous historical significance but with no statistical data recorded. Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by
156-728: A first-class match, that the ICC clearly stipulates that its match type list "is not exhaustive and is merely indicative of the matches which would fall into the first-class definition". For example, the list includes matches of recognised first-class teams versus international touring teams; and the leading domestic championships (using their then-current names) such as the County Championship , Sheffield Shield , Ranji Trophy , etc. The absence of any ICC ruling about matches played before 1947 (or before 1895 in Great Britain)
208-568: A four-team knock-out tournament to determine the winner of the Ranji Trophy. The team which finished last in each Elite sub-group was relegated, and both Plate Group finalists were promoted for the following season. For the 2006–07 season , the divisions were re-labelled the Super League and Plate League respectively. In the 2008–09 season, this format was adjusted to give both Super League and Plate League teams an opportunity to contest
260-412: A league format for three seasons from 2000–01 . For the 2002–03 season , the zonal teams were replaced by five teams representing respective Ranji Trophy groups but the format lasted only one season. From the 2003–04 season , the five original zonal teams competed along with a sixth guest team which was a touring foreign team. The first guest team was England A in 2003–04 . From the 2009-10 season ,
312-617: A line between what was important historically and what should form part of the statistical record. Hence, for pre-1895 (i.e., in Great Britain) cricket matches, "first-class" is essentially a statistical concept while the historical concept is broader and takes account of historical significance. Webber's rationale was that cricket was "generally weak before 1864" (there was a greater and increasingly more organised effort to promote county cricket from about that time) and match details were largely incomplete, especially bowling analyses, which hindered compilation of records. According to Webber's view,
364-549: A six-team knock-out stage; in all other years until 2001–02, a full fifteen-team knock-out tournament was held. The format was changed in the 2002–03 season with the zonal system abandoned and a two-division structure adopted – the Elite Group, containing fifteen teams, and the Plate Group, containing the rest. Each group had two sub-groups which played a round-robin; the top two from each Elite sub-group then contested
416-634: Is "taking" the first-class matches to be one against Sydney ( sic ), two each against Victoria , the Combined team and the Australian Eleven, and another against South Australia . In the fourth issue on 1 June 1882, James Lillywhite refers to first-class matches on the tour but gives a different list. The earliest known match scorecards date from 1744 but few have been found before 1772. The cards for three 1772 matches have survived and scorecards became increasingly common thereafter. At
468-399: Is a fairly comprehensive store of data about 19th century matches, certainly since 1825. Subsequently, Webber's view was challenged by Bill Frindall who believed that 1815 should be the startpoint to encompass the entire roundarm bowling phase of cricket's history, although roundarm did not begin in earnest until 1827. In Frindall's view, the inaugural first-class match should have been
520-551: Is its 42nd. It defeated Vidharbha cricket team in the final at the Wankhede Stadium , Mumbai. The idea of a national level, first class championship tournament was proposed by BCCI's founder A.S. De Mello . The competition was launched following BCCI's meeting at Shimla in July 1934, with the first fixtures taking place in 1934–35 .Initially the tournament was named as 'The cricket championship of India', it later
572-438: 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 officially adjudged to be worthy of the status by virtue of the standard of the competing teams. Matches must allow for the teams to play two innings each, although in practice a team might play only one innings or none at all. The etymology of "first-class cricket"
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#1732779558365624-457: Is problematic for those cricket statisticians who wish to categorise earlier matches in the same way. They have responded by compiling their own match lists and allocating a strictly unofficial first-class status to the matches they consider to have been of a high standard. It is therefore a matter of opinion only with no official support. Inevitable differences have arisen and there are variations in published cricket statistics . In November 2021,
676-484: Is unknown, but the term was used loosely before it acquired official status in 1895, following a meeting of leading English clubs. At a meeting of the Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC) in 1947, it was formally defined on a global basis. A significant omission of the ICC ruling was any attempt to define first-class cricket retrospectively. That has left historians, and especially statisticians, with
728-513: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI founded the championship in 1934, Since then it has been organised across various grounds and stadiums in India. The competition currently consists of 38 teams, with all 28 states in India and four of the eight union territories with at least one team from each. When
780-608: The Indian Armed Forces . The state of Telangana is represented by the Hyderabad cricket team . The following 38 teams currently participate in the Ranji Trophy: The following teams have appeared in the Ranji Trophy, but no longer do so, partly because Indian states have merged and created over the years: From the Ranji Trophy's inception until the 2001 season (with the exception of 1948–49 season ),
832-945: The Mumbai Cricket Association or the Karnataka State Cricket Association , while Railways and Services are pan-Indian. All 28 states of India are represented, as are four of the eight union territories : Delhi , Chandigarh , Puducherry , and Jammu and Kashmir (which also represents the union territory of Ladakh ). In addition, four teams represent regions within states: Mumbai and Vidarbha (both within Maharashtra ) and Saurashtra and Baroda (both within Gujarat ), though Maharashtra and Gujarat play as separate teams; and there are two pan-Indian teams: Railways , representing Indian Railways , and Services , representing
884-403: The 1970–71 season, the knock-out stage was expanded to the top two teams from each zone, a total of ten qualifying teams. This was expanded again to the top three from each zone in 1992–93, a total of fifteen qualifying teams; between 1996–97 and 1999–2000, the fifteen qualifying teams competed in a secondary group stage, with three groups of five teams, and the top two from each group qualified for
936-596: The ACS had published its Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles, 1709–1863 in which it listed all the known matches during that period which it considered to have historical importance. The ACS did stipulate that they had taken a more lenient view of importance regarding matches played in the 18th century than they did of matches played in the 19th century. As they explained, surviving details of 18th century matches are typically incomplete while there
988-464: The ACS' Important Matches guide, which have left no scorecard and for which only a brief announcement or report exists, must be based on other factors. Contemporary importance was often measured by the amount of money at stake and the fact that a match was deemed notable enough to be reported in the press. The 18th century matches in the ACS list were primarily compiled to assist historians. The earliest match known to have been accorded superior status in
1040-419: The ICC and the application of ICC conditions when the match is played. In 2010, the ICC published its Classification of Official Cricket which includes the criteria with which a match must comply to achieve a desired categorisation. In the section on first-class cricket, there is a list of the types of match that should qualify. It is important to note, given the differences in opinion about what constitutes
1092-463: The ICC retrospectively applied first-class status to women's cricket , aligning it with the men's game. A key issue for the statisticians is when first-class cricket for their purpose is deemed to have begun. Writing in 1951, Roy Webber argued that the majority of matches prior to 1864 (i.e., the year in which overarm bowling was legalised) "cannot be regarded as first-class" and their records are used "for their historical associations". This drew
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#17327795583651144-430: The Ranji Trophy. The top two from each Plate sub-group contested semi-finals; the winners of these two matches then joined the top three from each Super League sub-group in an eight-team knock-out tournament. The winner of this knock-out tournament then won the Ranji Trophy. Promotion and relegation between Super League and Plate League continued as before. In the 2010–11 season, Rajasthan won the Ranji Trophy after beginning
1196-697: The answers. In 1880, the Cricket Reporting Agency was founded. It acquired influence through the decade especially by association with Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ( Wisden ) and the press came to generally rely on its information and opinions. The term acquired official status, though limited to matches in Great Britain, following a meeting at Lord's in May 1894 between the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) committee and
1248-400: The beginning of the 1860s, there were only four formally constituted county clubs. Sussex was the oldest, formed in 1839, and it had been followed by Kent , Nottinghamshire and Surrey . In the early 1860s, several more county clubs were founded, and questions began to be raised in the sporting press about which should be categorised as first-class, but there was considerable disagreement in
1300-431: The country's highest playing standard. Later ICC rulings make it possible for international teams from associate members of the ICC to achieve first-class status but it is dependent on the status of their opponents in a given match. According to the ICC definition, a match may be adjudged first-class if: A Test match is a first-class match played between two ICC full member countries, subject to their current status at
1352-469: The end of the round-robin stage will be declared the champions. Each zonal team is a composite team of cricketers who play for the Ranji Trophy teams situated in that region of India. The teams which compose each zone are as follows: West Zone, with 19 trophies, is the most successful team in the competition. South Zone are the defending champions. Note : The Wins include the shared trophies and
1404-478: The first company to hold the tournament's title sponsorship right by virtue of BCCI's title sponsorship deal. The 2020–21 Ranji Trophy tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the first season since the tournament's inception that it was not held. State and regional teams with first-class status and owned–operated by BCCI members play in the Ranji Trophy. Most associations are regional such as
1456-504: The first innings is the winner. Prior to the 2016–17 season, matches were played at the home ground of one of the two teams taking part. For the 2016–17 edition , the BCCI decided that all games would be staged at a neutral venues. Points in the league stages of both divisions are currently awarded as follows: Some sources credit Goel with 636 or 640 wickets instead – see Rajinder Goel article for details. The following teams have won
1508-482: The four editions held between 2016–17 and 2019–20 , when the BCCI selected three teams called India Blue, Red and Green. The latest 2024-25 edition featured four teams named Team A, B, C and D. The competition was established by the BCCI in the 1961–62 season . The tournament was contested between the different geographical zones of India namely, North , South , East , West and Central . The inaugural tournament
1560-450: The guest team was dropped, with the original five-team knockout tournament being used until the 2014–15 season. The championship was not held in 2015–16 but returned to in 2016–17 with a new format where three teams chosen by the BCCI took part, designated as Blue, Green and Red. The teams played a round-robin tournament , with the top two advancing to the final. All games were staged as day-night games and used pink cricket balls. The trophy
1612-577: The inaugural first-class match was the opening game of the 1864 season between Cambridge University and MCC at Fenner's on 12 and 13 May, Cambridge winning by 6 wickets. When the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) published its Guide to First-Class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles in 1982, it tentatively agreed with Webber's 1864 start date by saying that "the line between first-class and other matches becomes more easily discernible about that date". A year earlier,
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1664-435: The inaugural first-class match was the opening game of the 1895 season between MCC and Nottinghamshire at Lord's on 1 and 2 May, MCC winning by 37 runs. " Test match " was another loosely applied term at the time but the first list of matches considered to be "Tests" was conceived and published by South Australian journalist Clarence P. Moody in his 1894 book, Australian Cricket and Cricketers, 1856 to 1893–94 . His proposal
1716-717: The internet, the CricketArchive (CA) and ESPN Cricinfo (CI) databases both say the earliest first-class match was Hampshire v England at Broadhalfpenny Down on 24 and 25 June 1772. At that time, cricket matches were played with a two-stump wicket and exclusively underarm bowling , although other features of the modern game had been introduced. The opinion of these databases has been repudiated by both Wisden and Playfair Cricket Annual . Wisden agrees with Frindall by commencing its first-class records in 1815. Playfair supports Webber and begins its records in 1864. The status of earlier matches, including many in
1768-885: The matches will be held at the Rural Development Trust (RDT) Stadium in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, and M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru . The 2024-2025 format deviates from recent editions by featuring four teams: India A, India B, India C, and India D, instead of the traditional zonal teams. The tournament will follow a round-robin format with no knockout stage. Notable Players participating include Surya Kumar Yadav,, Tilak Varma, Ishaan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KL Rahul, Rishab Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Khaleel Ahmed, and Mohammad Siraj. Format and Points System for 2024-2025: Each team will play against three teams once, and
1820-527: The opening game of the 1815 season between MCC and Middlesex at Lord's on 31 May and 1 June, Middlesex winning by 16 runs. Notwithstanding Frindall's reputation, Webber's view has been revived and reinforced in recent times. For example, the Kent researcher Derek Carlaw began his study of Kent cricketers since 1806 by stating: "Part One is confined to players who appeared for Kent in important matches from 1806 to 1863 and first-class matches from 1864 to 1914". On
1872-590: The problem of how to categorise earlier matches, especially those played in Great Britain before 1895. The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) has published a list of early matches which are believed to have been of a high standard. Test cricket , the highest standard of cricket, is statistically a form of first-class cricket, though the term "first-class" is mainly used to refer to domestic competition. A player's first-class statistics include any performances in Test matches. Before 1894 "first-class"
1924-409: The quarter-finals from the top tier (known as Elite Group A and Group B). Two teams will qualify from the second-tier (Elite Group C) and one team from the lower-tier (Plate Group) for the quarter-finals. Round-robin matches are four days in length; knockout matches are played for five days. Throughout its history, if there is no outright result in a Ranji Trophy knock-out match, the team leading after
1976-523: The season in the Plate League. From the 2012–13 season, this format was adjusted slightly. The Super League and Plate League names were abandoned, but the two-tier system remained. The top tier expanded from fifteen teams to eighteen teams, in two sub-groups of nine (known as Group A and Group B, and considered equal in status); and the second tier was reduced to nine teams in a single group (known as Group C). The top three teams from Groups A and B and
2028-486: The secretaries of the clubs involved in the official County Championship , which had begun in 1890. As a result, those clubs became first-class from 1895 along with MCC, Cambridge University , Oxford University , senior cricket touring teams (i.e., Australia and South Africa at that time) and other teams designated as such by MCC (e.g., North v South , Gentlemen v Players and occasional "elevens" which consisted of recognised first-class players). Officially, therefore,
2080-617: The status of teams. For example, MCC was authorised to determine the status of matches played in Great Britain. To all intents and purposes, the 1947 ICC definition confirmed the 1894 MCC definition, and gave it international recognition and usage. Hence, official judgment of status is the responsibility of the governing body in each country that is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The governing body grants first-class status to international teams and to domestic teams that are representative of
2132-402: The team with the maximum points at the end of the round-robin stage will be crowned the champions. The squads for the first round were announced by the BCCI on August 14, 2024, with subsequent squad updates on September 10, 2024. The teams are composed of a mix of experienced and emerging players selected by national selectors. [1] [2] Points System: The teams with the highest points at
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2184-411: The teams were grouped geographically into four or five zones – North, West, East, and South, with Central added in 1952–53. Initial matches were played within the zones on a knock-out basis until 1956–57, and thereafter on a league basis, to determine a winner; then, the five individual zone winners competed in a knock-out tournament, leading to a final which decided the winner of the Ranji Trophy. From
2236-421: The top two from Group C contest the knockout phase. The lowest placed team in each of Group A and Group B is relegated to Group C, and the top two from Group C are promoted to the top tier. For the 2017–18 season, the two-tier system was abandoned to have 4 groups of seven teams each and two quarter-finalists from each group. From the 2018–19 season, the teams contested in three-tiers. Five teams will qualify for
2288-497: The tournament was founded, it was named "the Cricket Championship of India", in 1935 it was renamed after Ranjitsinhji , who was the first Indian to play international cricket . He played for England from 1896 to 1902. The Mumbai cricket team is the most successful team of the tournament, with a record 42 titles to their name. The Mumbai cricket team holds the present title of the 2023–24 edition , which
2340-424: The tournament: Mumbai/Bombay have played in 48 finals and have won total 42 Ranji Trophy championships, the most by any team. Sports18 TV channel and JioCinema has exclusive rights to broadcast the trophy live on television and online respectively. BCCI's website runs match highlights. Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar broadcast the tournament until 2022. Other top domestic cricket tournaments of
2392-651: The win percentage counts shared as half a win. Viacom18 holds the media rights to domestic tournaments, including the Duleep Trophy, from 2023 to 2028; Sports18 is the official television broadcaster, while matches are also streamed for free on the JioCinema platform. First-class cricket First-class cricket One Day International Limited overs (domestic) Twenty20 International Twenty20 (domestic) Other forms First-class cricket , along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket ,
2444-597: Was a common adjective applied to cricket matches in England, used loosely to suggest that a match had a high standard; adjectives like "great", "important" and "major" were also loosely applied to such matches, but there tended to be differences of opinion. In the inaugural issue of Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game on 10 May 1882, the term is used twice on page 2 in reference to the recently completed tour of Australia and New Zealand by Alfred Shaw's XI . The report says it
2496-465: Was cancelled for three seasons due to Covid-19 and the zonal format returned when it was re-started in 2022-23 with the original five zonal teams joined by a new North East Zone . The 2024-2025 Duleep Trophy marks the 61st edition of the this prestigious tournament, organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The tournament scheduled from 5 September 2024 to 22 September 2024,
2548-540: Was formally defined by the then Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC) on 19 May 1947. It was made clear that the definition "will not have retrospective effect". The definition is as follows: A match of three or more days' duration between two sides of eleven players officially adjudged first-class, shall be regarded as a first-class fixture. Matches in which either team have more than eleven players or which are scheduled for less than three days shall not be regarded as first-class. The Governing body in each country shall decide
2600-636: Was renamed. The trophy was donated by Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala in memory of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, Jam Sahib of Nawanagar who had died the previous year. The first match of the competition was held on 4 November 1934 between Madras and Mysore at the Chepauk ground in Madras (Now Chennai ). Mumbai (Bombay) has won the tournament the most times with 42 wins including 15 back-to-back wins from 1958–59 to 1972–73 . In 2015 Paytm became
2652-610: Was widely accepted after a list of 39 matches was reproduced in the 28 December 1894 issue of Cricket magazine. The list began with the Melbourne Cricket Ground match played 15–17 March 1877 and ended with a recent match at the Association Ground, Sydney played 14–20 December 1894. All of Moody's matches, plus four additional ones, were retrospectively recognised as Test matches and also, thereby, as first-class matches. The term "first-class cricket"
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#17327795583652704-467: Was won by West Zone who defeated South Zone in the final by ten wickets. In the 1962–63 season , four of the five teams except Central Zone included a West Indies Test cricketer as a part of the teams. The original format was that the five teams played each other on a knock-out basis. From the 1993–94 season , the competition converted to a league format before moving back to the knock-out format for four seasons. The tournament again reverted to
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