The big news: Ranji Trophy set to finish early

The Ranji Trophy is set to begin on October 6 and will have its earliest final till date, between January 7-11, 2017. Chhattisgarh are the only new side to feature in the 28-team event. They will take on Tripura in their first-class debut in round one.

Compared to last year, tournaments such as the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be played after the Ranji Trophy. The tournament will be played at neutral venues following a recommendation from the BCCI's technical committee headed by Sourav Ganguly. The move received a favourable response from captains and coaches at the board's annual conclave in Dharamsala in June. Many felt that the decision was inevitable, considering the quality of pitches during a few games in the previous seasons.

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India's domestic calendar began with the Duleep Trophy in August and will end with the Deodhar Trophy, the 50-over competition that will be played in the same format as the Challenger Trophy, on March 29.

The Ranji teams have been divided into three groups

Group A: Mumbai, Baroda, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Railways, Uttar Pradesh

Group B: Saurashtra, Odisha, Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Assam, Jharkhand

Group C: Hyderabad, Haryana, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Services, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra, Chhattisgarh

Other top stories

  1. England ODI captain Eoin Morgan is yet to decide whether he will travel to Bangladesh to lead his team this month. Security concerns are the reason behind Morgan yet to confirm his ticket to Dhaka.
  2. Yuvraj Singh is determined to be a part of the 2019 World Cup squad in England and Wales. After bagging the man of the series award in the 2011 edition, the 34-year-old is preparing himself to make the cut.
  3. Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan has been given an honourary life member of the Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord's in London. He is the 24th Indian to be given such an honour by the club. Khan has played 92 Test matches for India, taking 311 wickets.
  4. The Lyca Kovai Kings beat Madurai Super Giants by ten runs in the Tamil Nadu Premier League on Friday. The next match features Karaikudi Kaalai taking on the Albert TUTI Patriots. 
  5. Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews will not play the reminder of Australia's ongoing tour owing to a calf tear which occurred during the fourth One Day International at Dambulla. Mathews is yet to undergo a CT scan for the injury, but the team management has decided that he will not play the remaining Australian tour.