Ranji Trophy moves to the knockout stage as 8 teams qualify for the quarter-finals

India’s major domestic first-class tournament Ranji Trophy now moves to the knockout as eight teams have qualified for the quarter-finals which are set to start from 7th of December. The tournament started on 6th October 2017. There were 4 groups with 7 teams in each group.

Now, top 2 teams from each group have made it to the quarterfinal stage while the remaining teams have been out of the title race. Defending champion Gujarat have continued to do well as they scored most points during the league stage of the tournament. They ended the league stage with 34 points.

The league stages are 4-day games but the knockout contests will be a five-day affair where the teams will lock horns. Let us talk about the teams who have managed to reach the quarter-finals which are set to be played in Rajkot, Hyderabad, Nagpur, and Vijayawada.

Group A

Karnataka & Delhi

Karnataka batsman Mayank Agarwal is in beast mode as he had clobbered every bowling unit that has come their way. He became the 18th batsman in the Ranji history to score over 1000 run in one season under their belt. Running on the back of brilliant performance from Agarwal, Karnataka has thumped every opponent on their way to the quarter-finals. They topped the group with 32 points to their name.

Delhi started the season with India fast bowler Ishant Sharma captaining the side and he led from the front having notched up 20 wickets in 4 games helping the side start the tournament with great momentum. After Ishant returned to the national duty, it was Rishabh Pant who led the side and with the collective effort from the team took the side to the quarter-finals with 27 points under their belt during the league stage.

Group B

Gujarat & Kerala

Gujarat’s opener Priyank Panchal continued his sublime form as he along with skipper Parthiv Patel scored heavily during the league stages taking the side to the top of their group. Spinners Siddarth Desai and Chintan Gaja also played a major role in the team’s success. After passing the group stage hurdle, Gujarat will try to defend their title which they won last season beating Mumbai.

Kerala created history when they demolished Haryana by an innings and 8 runs during the clash at Lahli. This will be Kerala’s first ever entry to the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy. Former Madhya Pradesh player Jalaj Saxena played a very important role for the side with both bat and ball. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson has been in prime form as well having notched up almost 600 runs in 6 games.

Group C

Madhya Pradesh & Mumbai

Andhra Pradesh had the opportunity to reach the quarter-finals but it was dependent on how Odisha fare against Madhya Pradesh. MP knocked them out beating Odisha by 7 wickets in their final league stage clash. Thus they ended the group stage with 21 points to their name.

18-year-old Prithvi Shaw is on a record-breaking spree as he continued scoring centuries at will in the tournament. In their final clash of the league stage, Mumbai chased down the target of 63 runs in just 6.3 overs. It was Shaw leading the charge one more time as the youngster scored 50 runs off just 26 deliveries taking the side to the next stage. The other opener Jay Bista also played a very important role along with the experienced duo of Abhishek Nayar and Dhawal Kulkarni.

Group D

Vidarbha & Bengal

Vidarbha topped the group as their skipper Faiz Fazal led by example throughout the group stage as he piled a lot of runs along with his teammate and opener Sanjay Ramaswamy. Iconic presence of Wasim Jaffer has helped the team immensely in the resurgence of Vidarbha.

Bengal played out a draw in their final game against the services which helped the side go through the knockout stage for the domestic championship. During the early stages of the season, Bengal had the services of India speedster Mohammed Shami and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Led by Manoj Tiwary Bengal the team toppled Punjab by 2 points while entering the quarter-finals.

Who is up against whom

The five-day quarter-finals are scheduled to start from 7th of December. Here are the fixtures:

Karnataka v Mumbai

Delhi v Madhya Pradesh

Gujarat v Vidarbha

Kerala v Bengal

Written by Suraj Shukla