Ranji Trophy QF schedule released; Pune will host final

The Ranji Trophy (Image courtesy: BCCI)

The schedule for the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy was revealed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday. Along with the schedule, BCCI also revealed the venues for the quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals.

The Maharashtra Cricket Stadium in Pune is set to host the final of the domestic tournament from February 24 to 28, 2016. The quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy will start on February 3, 2016.

Vidarbha and Saurashtra will play each other in Vishakapatnam, Assam will face Punjab in Valsad, Bengal and Maharashtra face off at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, and Jharkhand will meet Mumbai in Bangalore. All the matches will be played between February 3 and February 7, 2016.

The two semi-finals will be played from February 13-17, 2016 at Vadodara and at the Cuttack Driems Ground.

27 teams were divided into three groups for the 2015/16 Ranji Trophy season. From Group A, Vidarbha, Bengal and Assam qualified for the knockout stages. Mumbai, who finished Group B winners qualified along with Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. Group C, however, had only two teams that qualified – Saurashtra and Jharkhand.

Match in Bangalore might be shifted out

However, there are chances that the quarterfinal to be held in Bangalore will be shifted out because the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) does not want the pitch to be “fatigued” before the T20I World Cup.

KSCA Secretary, Brijesh Patel told ESPNCricinfo that the KSCA has sent in a request to the BCCI in order to try and shift the location out of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“We are going to give rest to our wickets. There is also the junior team which wants to have a camp here. We don't have enough time to prepare the wickets for the World Cup, so we have requested the board. We are waiting for the board to respond,” Patel said.

Considering the logistics for broadcasting the quarterfinal match, Mysore seems like the most likely replacement, according to a BCCI source. Alur, which hosted a number of Vijay Hazare matches recently, is another location that could be used to play the quarterfinal.