The 2021–22 Ranji Trophy was the 87th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India.[1][2] The tournament was split into two phases, with the league stage being played from 17 February to 15 March 2022,[3] and the knockout phase played from 6 to 26 June 2022.[4][5] Due to the delayed start of the tournament because of the COVID-19 pandemic, teams were split into eight Elite groups, instead of five as per previous editions, and the Plate Group.[6] The seven teams that won their Elite Group with the best points progressed to the knockout phase. They were joined by the winner of the pre-quarter-final match between the Elite Group winning team with the fewest points and the winner of the Plate Group.[7]
 The Ranji Trophy, awarded to the winners | |
| Dates | 17 February – 26 June 2022 |
|---|---|
| Administrator(s) | BCCI |
| Cricket format | First-class cricket |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin then knockout |
| Host(s) |  India |
| Champions | Madhya Pradesh (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Mumbai |
| Participants | 38 |
| Matches | 65 |
| Player of the series | Sarfaraz Khan (Mumbai) |
| Most runs | Sarfaraz Khan (982) (Mumbai) |
| Most wickets | Shams Mulani (45) (Mumbai) |
In the opening round of fixtures, Sakibul Gani of Bihar became the first player to score a triple century on their first-class debut.[8] In their Plate Group match against Mizoram, he scored 341 runs.[9]
Following the conclusion of the group stage, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Karnataka, Mumbai, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh had all won their respective groups to qualify for the quarter-finals. Jharkhand won Group H and Nagaland won the Plate Group to advance to the preliminary quarter-final match.[10] In the first innings of the preliminary quarter-final, Jharkhand were bowled out for 880 runs, the fourth-highest team total in the Ranji Trophy.[11] Jharkhand then extended their lead to 1,008 runs, the biggest ever lead in first-class cricket, progressing to the quarter-finals based on their first innings lead.[12] Mumbai,[13] Uttar Pradesh[14] and Madhya Pradesh[15] all won their quarter-final matches to advance to the semi-finals. Bengal also reached the semi-finals, after they drew their match against Jharkhand, progressing in the tournament due to having a first-innings lead.[16]
In the first semi-final, Madhya Pradesh beat Bengal by 174 runs to reach their first final in the tournament since the 1998–99 edition.[17] The second semi-final, between Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh was drawn, with Mumbai advancing to the final on their first-innings lead.[18] In the final, Madhya Pradesh beat Mumbai by six wickets to win their first Ranji Trophy title.[n 1][19][20] It qualified for the 2023-24 Irani Cup.
Background
editThe 2021–22 Ranji Trophy was initially scheduled to take place from 13 January to 20 March 2022.[21] The previous edition of the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22] However, on 4 January 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that the tournament had been postponed due to an increase of COVID-19 cases in India.[23][24] The BCCI announced that they would try to host the league stage of the Ranji Trophy before the start of the 2022 Indian Premier League in April.[25] Later in January 2022, the BCCI said that they were looking at the possibility of holding the tournament in two phases, from February to March, and June to July.[26]
Originally, the tournament was scheduled to start on 16 November 2021,[1] but was later postponed to 5 January 2022[27] and again to 13 January 2022.[21] As per previous editions, the tournament would have been divided into six groups, with six teams in five Elite Groups and eight teams in the Plate Group.[28] The winners of each Elite Group would have progressed directly to the quarter-finals, with the second-placed teams and the winner of the Plate Group playing in pre-quarters matches to determine the final eight teams.[29]
Teams
editThe teams were placed in the following groups:[30]
| Group A (Rajkot) | Group B (Cuttack) | Group C (Chennai) | Group D (Ahmedabad) | Group E (Trivandrum) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group F (Delhi) | Group G (Haryana) | Group H (Guwahati) | Plate Group (Kolkata) | |
League stage
edit
Group Aedit
Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2022. Source: ESPN Cricinfo
Advances to Quarter-final
Group Bedit
Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2022. Source: ESPN Cricinfo
Advances to Quarter-final
Group Cedit
Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2022. Source: ESPN Cricinfo
Advances to Quarter-final
Group Dedit
Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2022. Source: ESPN Cricinfo
Advances to Quarter-final
Group Eedit
Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2022. Source: ESPN Cricinfo
Advances to Quarter-final
|
Group Fedit
Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2022. Source: ESPN Cricinfo
Advances to Quarter-final
Group Gedit
Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2022. Source: ESPN Cricinfo
Advances to Quarter-final
Group Hedit
Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2022. Source: ESPN Cricinfo
Advances to Preliminary quarter-final
Plate Groupedit
Updated to match(es) played on 6 March 2022. Source: ESPN Cricinfo
Advances to Preliminary quarter-final
|
Knockout stage
edit| Preliminary QF | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||||
| H1 | Jharkhand | 298 | |||||||||||||||||
| H1 | Jharkhand | 880 & 417/6 | B1 | Bengal | 773/7d & 318/7d | ||||||||||||||
| P1 | Nagaland | 289 | B1 | Bengal | 273 & 175 | ||||||||||||||
| A1 | Madhya Pradesh | 341 & 281 | |||||||||||||||||
| F1 | Punjab | 219 & 203 | |||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Madhya Pradesh | 397 & 26/0 | |||||||||||||||||
| A1 | Madhya Pradesh | 536 & 108/4 | |||||||||||||||||
| D1 | Mumbai | 374 & 269 | |||||||||||||||||
| D1 | Mumbai | 647/8d & 261/3d | |||||||||||||||||
| E1 | Uttarakhand | 114 & 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| D1 | Mumbai | 393 & 533/4d | |||||||||||||||||
| G1 | Uttar Pradesh | 180 | |||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Karnataka | 253 & 114 | |||||||||||||||||
| G1 | Uttar Pradesh | 155 & 213/5 | |||||||||||||||||
Preliminary quarter-final
edit12–16 March 2022
Scorecard |
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- Nagaland won the toss and elected to field.
- Kumar Kushagra (Jharkhand) scored his maiden century and his maiden double century in first-class cricket.[31] He broke Javed Miandad's (Pak) record to become the youngest batsman to score 250+ runs in a first-class innings (17 years, 141 days).[32]
- Jharkhand made their highest team total in a first-class cricket match.[33]
Quarter-finals
editv
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- Jharkhand won the toss and elected to field.
- Sudip Kumar Gharami (Bengal) scored his maiden century in first-class cricket.[34]
v
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v
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- Uttar Pradesh won the toss and elected to field.
- Prince Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) made his first-class debut.
Semi-finals
editv
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- Madhya Pradesh won the toss and elected to bat.
v
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- Uttar Pradesh won the toss and elected to field.
Final
editStatistics
editMost runs
edit| Runs | Player | Match | Innings | Average | Highest score | 100 | 50 | Team |
| 982 | Sarfaraz Khan | 6 | 9 | 122.75 | 275 | 4 | 2 | Mumbai |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 658 | Rajat Patidar | 6 | 9 | 53.15 | 142 | 2 | 5 | Madhya Pradesh |
| 623 | Chetan Bist | 4 | 6 | 311.50 | 155* | 5 | 0 | Nagaland |
| 614 | Yash Dubey | 6 | 10 | 76.75 | 289 | 2 | 1 | Madhya Pradesh |
| 608 | Shubham Sharma | 6 | 9 | 76.00 | 116 | 4 | 1 | Madhya Pradesh |
Most wickets
edit| Wickets | Player | Match | Innings | Average | Best | 5-fer | 10-fer | Team |
| 45 | Shams Mulani | 6 | 11 | 16.75 | 7/114 | 6 | 2 | Mumbai |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | Kumar Kartikeya | 6 | 11 | 21.00 | 6/50 | 3 | 0 | Madhya Pradesh |
| 25 | Shahbaz Nadeem | 5 | 9 | 24.96 | 5/58 | 3 | 1 | Jharkhand |
| 23 | Gaurav Yadav | 5 | 10 | 18.91 | 5/11 | 1 | 0 | Madhya Pradesh |
| 21 | Satyajeet Bachhav | 3 | 5 | 19.61 | 7/45 | 2 | 1 | Maharashtra |
Broadcasters
editStar Sports and Disney+ Hotstar aired selective matches on TV and internet respectively. BCCI's website broadcast highlights and scores.
Notes
edit- ^ Madhya Pradesh previously competed in the Ranji Trophy as Holkar cricket team, winning the tournament four times between 1945–46 and 1952–53. This was their first win as Madhya Pradesh.
References
edit- ^ a b "Ranji Trophy returns as BCCI announces full 2021-22 domestic season". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "BCCI announces India's domestic season for 2021-22". The Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy: BCCI permits 20 players, 2 Covid reserves". CricBuzz. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ "BCCI unveils two-phased plan for Ranji Trophy". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ "Bengaluru to host Ranji Trophy knockouts from June 4". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy to begin on February 10". CricBuzz. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ "FAQs: Everything you wanted to know about the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy: Bihar's Sakibul Gani creates world record on first-class debut with incredible triple-century". Hindustan Times. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy 2022: Bihar batter Sakibul Gani scripts world record with a triple hundred on first-class debut". India Today. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "Sarfaraz's century puts Mumbai in quarter-finals; Tamil Nadu knocked out". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy 2021-22: Jharkhand bowled out for 880, record fourth-highest Ranji Trophy team total". Sports Tiger. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy: Roy and Kushagra make merry as Jharkhand kill off contest on their way to quarter-finals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ "Mumbai break 92-year-old record for the highest margin of victory". The Indian Express. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy 2022, Quarterfinals, Day 3 Highlights: UP beat Karnataka to secure semi-final birth". The Indian Express. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "With Pandit in charge, MP players have no time to pause - 'must rectify mistakes before semi-final'". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy 2022: Bengal sets semifinal date with Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai to face Uttar Pradesh". India TV. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "Kumar Kartikeya, Himanshu Mantri put MP in first Ranji final since 1998-99". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "Yashasvi Jaiswal's twin hundreds the highlight in dull draw against Uttar Pradesh". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ "Dubey, Shubham, Patidar, bowlers fashion Madhya Pradesh's maiden Ranji Trophy title". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ "Mumbai vs Madhya Pradesh highlights, Ranji Trophy Final 2022: Madhya Pradesh beat Mumbai by 6 wickets to win their maiden Ranji Trophy title". The Times of India. 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Kolkata to host Ranji final in March; Delhi to host men's season-opening SMA finale". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ "No Ranji Trophy in 2020-21, but BCCI to hold domestic 50-over games for men, women, and U-19 boys". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
- ^ "BCCI postpones Ranji Trophy, CK Nayudu Trophy, women's T20 league due to rising Covid-19 cases". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
- ^ "BCCI postpones Ranji Trophy, Col C K Nayudu Trophy & Senior Women's T20 League for 2021-22 season". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
- ^ "BCCI hopeful of completing Ranji league stage before IPL". CricBuzz. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ^ "BCCI exploring possibility of holding Ranji Trophy in two phases, says treasurer Arun Dhumal". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "Indian domestic season to kickstart on September 20". Cricbuzz. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy to start from January 5, senior cricket to start with Mushtaq T20 from October 27". Hindustan Times. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "BCCI postpones Ranji Trophy start date to January 5 in revised domestic calendar". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "65 matches, 9 venues, 2 phases: Ranji Trophy after 22 months". The Indian Express. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Pre-quarters: Kumar Kushagra's double ton propel Jharkhand to 763/9 against Nagaland". The Indian Express. 12 March 2022. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
- ^ "Kumar Kushagra: Jharkhand's teenage record-breaker hungry for more red-ball laurels". Sportstar. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ "Kushagra and Nadeem lead Jharkhand to record total". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy 2021-22, Quarterfinal: Sudip Gharami's Maiden Ton Puts Bengal In Charge Vs Jharkhand". Outlook. 7 June 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy, Mumbai's Suved Parkar joins elite club with debut double hundred". The Hindu. 7 June 2022.
- ^ "Ranji Trophy: Mumbai crush Uttarakhand by 725 runs to seal record win and storm into semifinals". India Today. 9 June 2022.