The Ranji Trophy 2024-25 is set to begin on October 11 and will continue until March 2025 which will feature a restructured format aiming to provide more opportunities for youngsters.
The Indian domestic season started in September with the Duleep Trophy followed by the Irani Cup 2024 where Mumbai secured a victory after 27 years.
Unlike the usual schedule in recent years, when white ball tournaments like the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy would take place before the Ranji season a mixed schedule where the white ball tournaments will be played in the middle of the first-class season, during the winters, citing losing days and matches due to weather during the winter.
Ahead of the season, the BCCI had announced the schedule for the 2024-25 season with five group stage games being played till November 13. The teams are divided into two categories.
3️⃣ Days to go for the #RanjiTrophy 💥
3️⃣2️⃣ teams in the Elite Groups
6️⃣ teams in the Plate Group
A promotion to the Elite Groups up for grabs 🪜
But only 1 true champion 🏆
Here’s a look at the Groups! 👇 pic.twitter.com/i581GPnfEv
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) October 8, 2024
Elite Category: This Category comprises 32 teams, split into four groups of eight teams. The playoff teams of the last season will be categorised into four different groups and hence they will meet only in knock-out stages.
Each team plays the others in their group once. The top two teams from each group will advance to the quarter-finals.
Plate Category: The Plate category plays each other once, with the top four qualifying for the plate group knockouts. The Knockout includes matches for the third and fourth position while the bottom two teams will play for fifth and sixth positions.
A significant feature this season is the promotion and relegation system. The two finalists from the plate group will earn promotion to the Elite Category for the 2025-26 season.
The bottom two teams across all Elite groups will be relegated to the plate category for the next season.
The teams are divided into groups according to their ranks based on their performance in the previous season.
| Elite A | Elite B | Elite C | Elite D | Plate |
| Mumbai | Vidarbha | Madhya Pradesh | Tamil Nadu | Goa |
| Baroda | Andhra | Karnataka | Saurashtra | Manipur |
| Services | Gujarat | Haryana | Railways | Mizoram |
| Jammu and Kashmir | Rajasthan | Bengal | Delhi | Nagaland |
| Tripura | Uttarakhand | Kerala | Jharkhand | Sikkim |
| Maharashtra | Pondicherry | Uttar Pradesh | Chattisgarh |
Arunachal Pradesh
|
| Odisha | Himachal Pradesh | Punjab | Assam | – |
| Meghalaya | Hyderabad | Bihar | Chandigarh | – |
The first match of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 will be played between Baroda and Mumbai on October 11 at Kotambi Stadium.
