With old-world charm and present-day purpose, the Ranji Trophy juggernaut is ready to roll 

Saurashtra player Cheteshwar Pujara during a practice session at Sri Ramakrishna College cricket grounds in Coimbatore on Thursday, ahead of the Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu from Friday.
| Photo Credit: Periasamy M

Ranji Trophy has an old-world charm and a present-day purpose. It is a tournament with a 90-year history, is played in Test whites with a red cherry, at grounds quaint and modern, across the length and breadth of this gigantic country.

It also occupies a prime position in the supply chain that feeds Indian cricket, especially the longer format. The sheer number of runs a batter scores or the bucketload of wickets a bowler takes are impossible to ignore, as seen recently in the ascent of Mumbai’s Sarfaraz Khan, Madhya Pradesh’s Rajat Patidar and the Bengal pace duo of Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep.

From Friday, hundreds of cricketers will take the field with these very hopes as this year’s edition begins with 38 teams split across the Elite and Plate divisions. Old warhorses like Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha and Cheteshwar Pujara, the red and white-ball straddlers like Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, and a battery of young and fledgling cricketers will be eager to show their worth.

But their first test will be to deal with the competition’s tweaked format this season. To ensure that matches, especially in northern and eastern India, aren’t disrupted by the winter fog, Ranji Trophy has been split into two phases, with the first five rounds running until November 16, and the last two rounds and the knockouts slated to begin from January 23, 2025.

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20) and Vijay Hazare Trophy (50 overs) will be sandwiched in between, presenting a unique challenge of switching from red ball to white and back to red in a short time. Where players will get a respite, however, is in the spacing between games. Against the standard three-day gap in 2023-24, the break is set to progressively increase this time around.

Among the biggest beneficiaries will be the fast bowlers. With India set to tour Australia for a gruelling five-Test series beginning November 22, pacers are prized commodities. The form and fitness of the lanky Karnataka speedster Prasidh Krishna will be keenly observed while it remains to be seen if Mohammed Shami, who hasn’t played since the 2023 World Cup final against Australia because of an ankle injury, chooses a Ranji game for Bengal to mark his competitive return.

It is said that Ranji Trophy is more followed than watched. The fact that it runs parallel to the Indian national team’s home season means players will be forced to compete for attention. But importance and relevance are not something the tournament lacks. It is like a timeless piece of art that doesn’t need repeated explanations.