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2016–17 Ranji Trophy

The Ranji Trophy, awarded to the winners
Dates	6 October 2016 – 14 January 2017
Administrator(s)	BCCI
Cricket format	First-class cricket
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin then knockout
Host(s)	India
Champions	Gujarat (1st title)
Participants	28
Most runs	Priyank Panchal (1,310) (Gujarat)
Most wickets	Shahbaz Nadeem (56) (Jharkhand)
← 2015–162017–18 →

The 2016–17 Ranji Trophy was the 83rd season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India. Unlike previous seasons, the 2016–17 tournament was played at neutral venues. Captains and coaches were supportive of the change. Chhattisgarh cricket team made their debut in the competition, becoming the 28th team to compete in this edition of the Ranji Trophy. Mumbai were the defending champions. Gujarat beat Mumbai in the final by 5 wickets to win their first title.

In September 2016, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the dates, groups and fixtures for the competition. The pink ball was used in the tournament, to help the BCCI make a decision on playing a day/night Test match.

In October 2016 during the Group B fixture between Maharashtra and Delhi, Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne playing for Maharashtra, set a record partnership total in the Ranji Trophy, with 594 runs. It was also the second-highest partnership in the history of first-class cricket.

Two group stage fixtures, the Group A match between Gujarat and Bengal and the Group C match between Hyderabad and Tripura, were abandoned because of smog pollution. Initially, the BCCI rescheduled the fixtures to take place after the conclusion of the group stages. As a result of the rescheduled matches, the dates of the matches in the knockout phase of the competition were moved back to accommodate the rearranged fixtures. Both the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) opposed the rescheduling of the fixtures. The MCA joint-secretary Unmesh Khanvilkar said that it "gives unfair advantage to the participating teams with respect to their qualification the knockout phase". Kasi Viswanathan, secretary of the TNCA, said that "the matches should not be rescheduled and that points should be shared". The BCCI reviewed the decision to reschedule the matches. In December 2016, they revoked the changes and awarded each team one point from the abandoned matches.

Mumbai, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu from Group A, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Odisha from Group B and Hyderabad and Haryana from Group C all qualified for the knockout stage of the tournament. The dates of the quarter-finals were brought forward by one day and the semi-finals by two days. The Holkar Stadium in Indore hosted the final on 10 January 2017, two days earlier than originally planned.

In the semi-finals Gujarat beat Jharkhand by 123 runs to reach only their second final in the history of the Ranji Trophy, having previously played in the 1950–51 final. Mumbai beat Tamil Nadu by 6 wickets to progress to their 46th final in the Ranji Trophy.

Personnel changes

Players

Coaches

Teams

The teams were drawn in the following groups:

Group A

Points table

•   Top three teams advanced to knockout stage.

Group B

Points table

•   Top three teams advanced to knockout stage.

Group C

Points table

•   Top two teams advanced to knockout stage

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

• Mumbai won the toss and elected to bat.

• Tamil Nadu won the toss and elected to field.
• Dinesh Karthik (Tamil Nadu) played in his 100th Ranji Trophy match.

• Odisha won the toss and elected to field.
• Samit Gohel (Gujarat) scored his first triple century in first-class cricket and the 40th triple century in the Ranji Trophy. His 359 not out is the highest score for carrying the bat in first-class cricket.

• Haryana won the toss and elected to bat.

Semi-finals

• Tamil Nadu won the toss and elected to bat.
• Prithvi Shaw (Mumbai) and Ganga Sridhar Raju (Tamil Nadu) both made their first-class debuts.
• Prithvi Shaw became the first player for Mumbai to score a century on debut in the Ranji Trophy since Amol Muzumdar did so in the 1993–94 tournament.

• Gujarat won the toss and elected to bat.

Final

• Gujarat won the toss and elected to field.
• This was the highest successful run-chase in the final of the Ranji Trophy.

References

1. "BCCI revamps Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy structure". ESPNcricinfo. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
2. "Ranji Trophy to be held at neutral venues, confirms BCCI". Times of India. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
3. "BCCI announces new T20 domestic league, approves Ranji Trophy matches at neutral venues". Indian Express. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
4. "Captains, coaches open to neutral Ranji venues". ESPNcricinfo. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
5. "Kaif to lead debutants Chhattisgarh in 2016-17 season". ESPNcricinfo. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
6. "BCCI yet to unveil domestic schedule and details". ESPNcricinfo. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
7. "Iyer, Lad to miss opener; Unmukt to lead Delhi". ESPNcricinfo. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
8. "Parthiv 143 leads Gujarat to maiden title". ESPNcricinfo. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
9. ^ "Ranji Trophy to have its earliest final". ESPNcricinfo. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
10. "Pink ball to be used in Ranji Trophy". ESPNcricinfo. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
11. "The second-highest partnership in first-class cricket". ESPNcricinfo. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
12. ^ "Rescheduled matches to delay Ranji knockouts". ESPNcricinfo. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
13. ^ "TN, Mumbai fume over Ranji fixtures rescheduling". ESPNcricinfo. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
14. "BCCI to review Ranji matches rescheduling decision". ESPNcricinfo. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
15. "Odisha-Jharkhand Ranji game rescheduled". ESPNcricinfo. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
16. "Iyer ton helps Mumbai hang on for draw". ESPNcricinfo. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
17. "Saurashtra knock Delhi out; Odisha through". ESPNcricinfo. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
18. "Hyderabad hold on to qualify". ESPNcricinfo. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
19. "Saini, Harshal help Haryana storm into quarter-finals". ESPNcricinfo. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
20. ^ "Vijay, Ashwin in TN squad for Karnataka clash". ESPNcricinfo. 18 December 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
21. "Bumrah six-for propels Gujarat into final". ESPNcricinfo. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
22. ^ "Shaw debut hundred seals Mumbai's final berth". ESPNcricinfo. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
23. ^ "Full list of transfers before the 2015-16 domestic season". ESPNcricinfo. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
24. ^ "2016–17 Ranji Trophy Points table". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
25. "Vignesh, Natarajan fire Tamil Nadu into semi-final". ESPNcricinfo. 24 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
26. "Samit Gohel's 359* shatters 117-year record". ESPNcricinfo. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
27. "Gujarat pull off record chase for maiden Ranji title". ESPNcricinfo. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.

External links

• Series home at ESPNcricinfo

• 2016 in Indian cricket
• 2017 in Indian cricket
• Domestic cricket competitions in 2016–17
• Ranji Trophy seasons