Ranji Trophy knockouts delayed by two days, BCCI release revised schedule

The BCCI has decided to delay the Ranji Trophy knockout contests by two days, thus quarterfinals will begin on June 6 and the final clash will be played from June 22 to 26. The two semi-finals will now commence on June 14 instead of June 12, according to an internal correspondence released by the BCCI to its regional divisions. All the games of the knockout round will be hosted by Bengaluru.

Before the commencement of the IPL 2022, the tournament’s preliminary rounds and a pre-quarter-final were held, with Bengal, Jharkhand, Mumbai, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh advancing to the knockout stages.

Bengal will clash against Jharkhand in the first quarter-final while Mumbai will clash against Uttarakhand in the second quarter-finals. For the third and fourth quarter-finals, Karnataka will take on Uttarakhand, and Punjab will lock horns with Madhya Pradesh as all the matches are set to be held from June 6-10. The semi-finals will be played from June 14-18 with the decider clash scheduled from June 22-26.

For the first time in the tournament’s history, the Ranji Trophy 2020-21 season was suspended owing to the Covid-19 outbreak. After a gap of two years, it was ultimately reinstated in the 2021-22 season under a tight timetable. Despite the fact that spectators were not permitted to watch the game from the stadiums, the popularity of Ranji Trophy has gradually increased all over the country over the years.

The players of the eight teams will have to go through a mandatory RT-PCR test and will have to live under the bio-bubble norms. There will not be any quarantine period enforced upon the players, but the Covid test will be a compulsion.  In the last season of the Ranji Trophy, Saurashtra and Bengal were the finalists and the former clinched the title.

Ranji Trophy schedule

June 6-10, First quarter-final: Bengal vs Jharkhand

June 6-10, Second quarter-final: Mumbai vs Uttarakhand

June 6-10, Third quarter-final: Karnataka vs Uttar Pradesh

June 6-10, Fourth quarter-final: Punjab vs Madhya Pradesh

June 14-18, First semi: Winner of QF1 vs QF4

June 14-18, Second semi: Winner of QF2 vs QF3

June 22-26: Final