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2017–18 Ranji Trophy

The Ranji Trophy, awarded to the winners
Dates	6 October 2017 – 2 January 2018
Administrator(s)	BCCI
Cricket format	First-class cricket
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin then knockout
Host(s)	India
Champions	Vidarbha (1st title)
Participants	28
Matches	91
Most runs	Mayank Agarwal (1,160) (Karnataka)
Most wickets	Jalaj Saxena (44) (Kerala)
← 2016–172018–19 →

The 2017–18 Ranji Trophy was the 84th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament that took place in India between October 2017 and January 2018. Vidarbha won the tournament, beating Delhi by 9 wickets in the final, to win their first Ranji Trophy title. Vidarbha made their Ranji Trophy debut in the 1957–58 season, making it the third-longest wait before a team won their maiden title. Vidarbha's captain, Faiz Fazal, said that "winning the Ranji Trophy has been the biggest achievement in my career".

The previous season was played at neutral venues. For this season, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed to return to playing fixtures at home and away venues after the neutral venue trial was unpopular with domestic captains. However, the knock-out phase of the tournament was still played at neutral venues. The other change from the previous season was an increase in the number of groups from three to four, with each team playing six fixtures in the group stage. The top two teams from each group progressed to the quarter-finals.

Gujarat were the defending champions. The season started on 6 October 2017, with the quarter-finals taking place on 7 December 2017, the semi-finals on 17 December 2017, and the final being held from 29 December 2017 to 2 January 2018. The final was played at the Holkar Stadium, Indore for the second consecutive year.

In November 2017, Mumbai, the most successful team in the history of the Ranji Trophy, played their 500th match in the competition.

Following the conclusion of the sixth round of group-stage fixtures, Karnataka and Delhi from Group A and Vidarbha from Group D had all progressed to the knockout stage of the tournament. After the final group-stage matches, they were joined by Gujarat and Kerala from Group B, Madhya Pradesh and Mumbai from Group C and Bengal from Group D. It was the first time that Kerala had progressed to the quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy.

In the quarter-finals, Karnataka beat Mumbai by an innings and 20 runs. It was only the fifth time that Mumbai had lost a match by an innings in the history of the Ranji Trophy. Defending champions Gujarat drew their match with Bengal, with Bengal progressing to the semi-finals with a first-innings lead. In the other quarter-final matches, Delhi beat Madhya Pradesh by seven wickets and Vidarbha beat Kerala by 412 runs to advance.

In the first semi-final, Delhi beat Bengal by an innings and 26 runs to reach their first final since the 2007–08 tournament. In the second semi-final, Vidarbha beat Karnataka by 5 runs to reach the final for the first time in their history.

Player transfers

The following player transfers were approved ahead of the season:

Teams

The teams were drawn in the following groups, with the groupings based on the average points for each side in the previous three years:

Group A

Points table

•   Top two teams advanced to the knockout stage

Group B

Points table

•   Top two teams advanced to the knockout stage

Group C

Points table

•   Top two teams advanced to the knockout stage

Group D

Points table

•   Top two teams advanced to the knockout stage

Knockout stage

The draw for the quarter-finals were made after the final group-stage match, with the following fixtures announced. The fixtures in the knockout stage of the tournament are played across five days, instead of four days in the group stage.

Quarter-finals

• Gujarat won the toss and elected to field.
• Writtick Chatterjee (Bengal) scored his maiden double-century in first-class cricket.

• Delhi won the toss and elected to field.

• Vidarbha won the toss and elected to bat.
• No play was possible before tea on day 1.

• Karnataka won the toss and elected to field.
• Shivam Dube and Shivam Malhotra (Mumbai) both made their first-class debuts.
• Vinay Kumar (Karnataka) took a hat-trick in the first innings and became the first captain to take a hat-trick in the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy.
• Shivam Dube (Mumbai) took his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.

Semi-finals

• Bengal won the toss and elected to bat.

• Vidarbha won the toss and elected to bat.

Final

• Vidarbha won the toss and elected to field.
• Aditya Thakare (Vidarbha) made his first-class debut.
• Rajneesh Gurbani (Vidarbha) became the second bowler to take a hat-trick in the final of the Ranji Trophy.
• Akshay Wadkar (Vidarbha) scored his maiden first-class century.

References

1. "A Ranji Trophy with international flavour and increased pressure". ESPNcricinfo. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
2. "Delhi vs Vidarbha, Ranji Trophy final, full cricket score, Day 4: VID win title for 1st time, create history". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
3. "Vidarbha crowned champions in maiden Ranji final". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
4. "Vidarbha's maiden Ranji title in 61 seasons". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
5. "'I cannot describe this feeling' - Faiz Fazal". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
6. "BCCI revamps Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy structure". ESPNcricinfo. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
7. "Ranji Trophy to be held at neutral venues, confirms BCCI". Times of India. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
8. "BCCI announces new T20 domestic league, approves Ranji Trophy matches at neutral venues". Indian Express. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
9. "BCCI meet: Ranji Trophy will again be home and away format". Times of India. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
10. "BCCI Meet: Ranji Trophy Will Again Be Home And Away Format". NDTV. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
11. ^ "BCCI dumps neutral-venue policy for Ranji Trophy league stage". ESPNcricinfo. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
12. "BCCI reverts to home and away format for Ranji Trophy". CricBuzz. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
13. "Parthiv 143 leads Gujarat to maiden title". ESPNcricinfo. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
14. ^ "Duleep Trophy scrapped from 2017-18 calendar". ESPNcricinfo. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
15. "Indore to host second Ranji final in a row". ESPNcricinfo. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
16. "Sheth, Meriwala help Baroda take control in Mumbai's 500th match". ESPNcricinfo. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
17. "When two Baroda rookies stunned Mumbai". ESPNcricinfo. 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
18. "Karnataka, Delhi confirm passage to knockouts". ESPNcricinfo. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
19. "Wakhare helps Vidarbha secure quarter-final berth". ESPNcricinfo. 20 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
20. "Ranji Trophy wrap: Gujarat, Kerala reach quarterfinals". CricBuzz. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
21. "Group C: Hirwani spins Madhya Pradesh into knockouts". Wisden India. 28 November 2017. Archived from the original on 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
22. "Ranji Trophy: Mumbai maul Tripura by 10 wickets to enter quarters". Times of India. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
23. "Tiger Dinda Hai!". Cricket Country. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
24. "Kerala cricket team creates history! Enters Ranji Trophy quarterfinals in style". Financial Express. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
25. "Kerala Ranji Trophy team qualifies for the quarterfinals". The New Indian Express. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
26. "Gowtham six-for as Karnataka cruise into semis with innings win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
27. "Majumdar scores ton as Bengal bat on and on". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
28. "Gambhir, Chandela lead breezy Delhi chase". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
29. "Sarwate bags six as Vidarbha complete massive win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
30. "Delhi storm into Ranji Trophy final after 10 years". Indian Express. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
31. "Gurbani seven-for books Vidarbha's maiden Ranji final berth". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
32. "Ranji Trophy transfers - Who moved where ahead of the 2017-18 season". ESPNcricinfo. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
33. ^ "Ranji Trophy Table - 2017–18". ESPNcricinfo. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
34. "Karnataka v Mumbai the marquee clash in Ranji Trophy quarterfinals". Wisden India. 28 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
35. "Kerala to play their first Ranji knockout against Vidarbha". ESPNcricinfo. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
36. "Chatterjee, Easwaran keep Bengal on course for semi-finals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
37. "Two sessions lost in Vidarbha-Kerala quarter-final". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
38. "Vinay Kumar hat-trick rips through Mumbai line-up". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
39. "Vinay Kumar hat-trick as Karnataka dominate Mumbai". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
40. "Shreyas Gopal's 150 flattens Mumbai". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
41. "Rajneesh Gurbani becomes 2nd bowler to take hat-trick in Ranji final". Indian Express. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
42. "Ranji Trophy final, Delhi vs Vidarbha, full cricket score, Day 3: VID lead by 233 after Wadkar ton". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 31 December 2017.

External links

• Series home at ESPNcricinfo

• 2017 in Indian cricket
• 2018 in Indian cricket
• Domestic cricket competitions in 2017–18
• Ranji Trophy seasons