# 1936–37 Ranji Trophy

The 1936–37 Ranji Trophy was the third edition of India's first-class cricket championship. Matches were played from 3 December 1936 to 10 February 1937 with a total of 17 teams participating. The sides were divided into four zonal groups, but the tournament utilised a knockout format. Fifteen of the 1935–36 teams returned but Northern India did not. The two newcomers were Bihar and Nawanagar, who won the title at the first attempt after defeating Bengal by 256 runs in the final.

## Teams

Although the tournament had a knockout format, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organised the teams by zone. Bihar and Nawanagar made their debuts but Northern India did not participate. Bihar joined the East Zone from which the Central Provinces and Berar team was transferred to the South Zone. The seventeen teams are listed alphabetically by zone and the sides that won each zonal title are in bold.

## Highlights

* Amar Singh of Nawanagar scored 103 (in 75 minutes) & 55, and took 10/83 (6/48 & 4/35) against Sind. Against Bombay, he took 8/62 in an innings. In four matches, he scored 335 (second highest aggregate) and took 28 wickets.
* Mubarak Ali took a hat-trick split across two innings for Nawanagar vs Western India. Against Bengal, Ali scored 90 in 96 minutes batting at No.11
* Shute Banerjee who had played two matches for Bengal was prevented from appearing in the final as he joined the service of the state of Nawanagar.

## Zonal matches
### East Zone

| Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| 19-20 December 1936 – Calcutta | 19-20 December 1936 – Calcutta |
| Bengal | 89 & 152/2 |
| Bengal | 89 & 152/2 | 23-25 Jan 1937 – Calcutta | 23-25 Jan 1937 – Calcutta |
| Bihar | 113 & 127 | 23-25 Jan 1937 – Calcutta | 23-25 Jan 1937 – Calcutta |
| Bihar | 113 & 127 | Bengal | 255 & 108/2 |
| 3-5 December 1936 – Ajmer | 3-5 December 1936 – Ajmer | | Bengal | 255 & 108/2 |
| 3-5 December 1936 – Ajmer | 3-5 December 1936 – Ajmer | Central India | 128 & 234 |
| Rajputana | 292 & 117 | Central India | 128 & 234 |
| Central India | 232 & 302/9d | | |
* 3–5 December 1936 Scorecard
* Central India won by 125 runs Mayo College Ground, Ajmer
* Central India won the toss and elected to bat.
* Saiduddin and Jamil Ahmed (Central India); and Thomas Hardy, M. Patel, Sultan Abbas and Richard Saker (Rajputana) made their first-class debuts.
* 19–20 December 1936 Scorecard
* Bengal won by 8 wickets Rangers Ground, Calcutta
* This was Bihar's first appearance in the Ranji Trophy.
* Bijoy Sen, A Chowdhury, Edward Leigh, N Qureshi, KAD Naoroji, S. Pathanki, Mohsin Kazi and RC Brookes (Bihar); and Bill Scott and TS Nahapiet (Bengal) made their first-class debuts.
* 23–25 January 1937 Scorecard
* Bengal won by 8 wickets Eden Gardens, Calcutta
* Mohammad Hussain (Central India) made his first-class debut.
* Alec Hosie (Bengal) passed 6,000 runs in first-class cricket.
* Bengal qualified for the semi-final as a result of this match.

### West Zone

| Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 3 |
| 7-9 December 1936 - Ahmedabad | 7-9 December 1936 - Ahmedabad | | |
| Gujarat | 77 & 105 | | |
| Gujarat | 77 & 105 | 8-10 January 1937 – Poona | 8-10 January 1937 – Poona | |
| Western India | 186 & 262/9d | 8-10 January 1937 – Poona | 8-10 January 1937 – Poona |
| Western India | 186 & 262/9d | Maharashtra | 159 & 219 |
| | | Western India | 400 |
| | | | | 15-17 January 1937 – Poona | 15-17 January 1937 – Poona |
| | | | | Western India | 106 & 174/4 |
| 4-6 December 1936 – Ahmedabad | 4-6 December 1936 – Ahmedabad | | | | Western India | 106 & 174/4 |
| 4-6 December 1936 – Ahmedabad | 4-6 December 1936 – Ahmedabad | | | Nawanagar | 224 & 341/7d |
| Nawanagar | 339 & 147 | | | Nawanagar | 224 & 341/7d |
| Nawanagar | 339 & 147 | 11-13 January 1937 – Poona | 11-13 January 1937 – Poona | | |
| Sind | 128 & 106 | 11-13 January 1937 – Poona | 11-13 January 1937 – Poona | | |
| Sind | 128 & 106 | Nawanagar | 263 & 137/7 | | |
| | | Bombay | 174 & 277/6d |
* 4–6 December 1936 Scorecard
* Nawanagar won by 252 runs Gujarat College Ground, Ahmedabad
* Nawanagar won the toss and elected to bat.
* Keshav Lal (Nawanagar) and Odhavji (Sind) made their first-class debuts.
Batting first after winning the toss, Nawanagar reached 100 after 124 minutes, in the post-lunch session. Amar Singh reached his half-century in 30 minutes, while adding 106 runs for the sixth wicket. He reached his century in 75 minutes before being caught behind after making 103, an innings that included 2 sixes, 1 five and 10 fours. His team went to stumps at 293/8. Singh shone also with the ball, more so in the third and final day. Adding to the overnight score of 68/6 in his team's second innings, he made 55 in a span of 52 minutes. Sind were set a total of 358 runs to be made in three-and-a-half hours. They lost their first wicket at 10 runs before Ghulam Mohammad was dismissed for 30 post lunch. In a batting collapse that followed, Sind were all out for 106, leaving Nawanagar victorious by 252 runs.
* 7–9 December 1936 Scorecard
* Western India won by 266 runs Gujarat College Ground, Ahmedabad
* Western India won the toss and elected to bat.
* Pratap Rai, Pradyumansinhji Lakhajirajsinhji, Shanoor Khan, Homi Umrigar (all Western India), and Hemu Adhikari, Wyankatrao Ghorpade, Shankar Rao Powar, JJ Yelwande, BB More and Narottam Jhaveri (all Gujarat) made their first-class debuts.
Western India lost five wickets inside an hour after opting to bat first upon winning the toss. They reached 100 in the second session before being dismissed for 186; Hari Mali top-scored for them, remaining unbeaten on 56. EG Hans picked up three wickets for Gujarat giving away 20 runs. Gujarat went to stumps at 36/2. They lost their remaining eight wickets on day two while adding 41 runs to their overnight total. Khwaja Saeed returned with figures of 6/23 for Western India, whose top-order in reply, began slowly taking over an hour to score 50 runs. Subsequently, Faiz Ahmed and Mali accelerated before the latter reached his half-century in 85 minutes while the former scored 4 fours off JJ Yelwande's bowling. They remained unbeaten at close of the day's play taking the team's score to 196/4. Hans picked up four wickets for 12 runs the following morning including that of Ahmed. His team declared after Hari Mali fell setting Gujarat a target of 372 runs. In reply, Gujarat began poorly losing two wickets before lunch. Mali, with his slow left-arm, picked up three wickets, while Narsingrao Kesari finished with four wickets for 27 runs, dismissing Gujarat for 105.
* 8–10 January 1937 Scorecard
* Western India won by an innings and 22 runs Poona Club Ground, Poona
* Maharashtra won the toss and elected to bat.
* KP Ubhayakar, Yeshwant Gokhale, Krishnarao Jadhav and NG Talukdar (Maharashtra), and Akbar Khan (Western India) made their first-class debuts.
* 11–13 January 1937 Scorecard
* Match drawn Deccan Gymkhana Ground, Poona Umpires: Ladha Ramji and Vali Ahmed
* Bombay won the toss and elected to bat.
* Vijay Merchant (Bombay) passed 4,000 runs in first-class cricket.
* 15–17 January 1937 Scorecard
* Match drawn Poona Club Ground, Poona Umpires: Ladha Ramji and GN Kesari
* Nawanagar won the toss and elected to bat.
* Sorabji Colah (Nawanagar) passed 3,000 runs in first-class cricket.

### South Zone

| Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| 16-18 December 1936 – Chennai | 16-18 December 1936 – Chennai |
| Madras | 303 & 237/9d |
| Madras | 303 & 237/9d | 16-18 January – Chennai | 16-18 January – Chennai |
| Mysore | 123 & 38 | 16-18 January – Chennai | 16-18 January – Chennai |
| Mysore | 123 & 38 | Madras | 110 & 97 |
| 25-27 December 1936 – Secunderabad | 25-27 December 1936 – Secunderabad | | Madras | 110 & 97 |
| 25-27 December 1936 – Secunderabad | 25-27 December 1936 – Secunderabad | Hyderabad | 203 & 217 |
| Hyderabad | 190 & 68/2 | Hyderabad | 203 & 217 |
| Central Provinces and Berar | 150 & 104 | | |
* 16–18 December 1936 Scorecard
* Madras won by 379 runs Madras Cricket Club Ground, Madras
* Madras won the toss and elected to bat.
* Narayanaswami Rao (Madras), and John Snaize and BV Ramakrishnappa (Mysore) made their first-class debuts.
* 25–27 December 1936 Scorecard
* Hyderabad won by 8 wickets Gymkhana Ground, Secunderabad
* Sorabji Mehta (Hyderabad) and Chandu Sarwate (Central Provinces and Berar) made their first-class debuts, while Srivastava and Chitnavis (Central Provinces and Berar) and Dayanand Archaye (Hyderabad) played their only first-class match.
* 16–18 January 1937 Scorecard
* Hyderabad won by 213 runs Madras Cricket Club Ground, Madras
* Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat.
* Ghulam Qureshi (Hyderabad) made his first-class debut.
* Hyderabad qualified for the semi-final as a result of this match.

### North Zone

| Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| | | 23-24 January 1937 – Amritsar | 23-24 January 1937 – Amritsar |
| | | Southern Punjab | 83 & 130 |
| 6-7 January 1937 – Delhi | 6-7 January 1937 – Delhi | | Southern Punjab | 83 & 130 |
| 6-7 January 1937 – Delhi | 6-7 January 1937 – Delhi | United Provinces | 134 & 164 |
| Delhi | 127 & 158 | United Provinces | 134 & 164 |
| United Provinces | 126 & 63/7 | | |
* 6–7 January 1937 Scorecard
* United Provinces won by 3 wickets Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
* Abdul Hamid (Delhi) made his first-class debut; and Sultan, Abdul Majid and Lakshman (Delhi), and Shaminuddin, Majid Ali Khan and Wazir Ahmed (United Provinces) played their only first-class match.
* 23–24 January 1937 Scorecard
* United Provinces won by 85 runs Alexandra Ground, Amritsar
* United Provinces won the toss and elected to bat.
* Shamsuddin, Inam Ahmed Hussain, Shamboo Singh and Tariq (United Provinces), and Abdur Rahman, Balbir Singh and Shafiq (Southern Punjab) made their first-class debuts.

## Inter-Zonal Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| Nawanagar | Walkover |
| Nawanagar | Walkover | 6–10 February 1937 – Bombay | 6–10 February 1937 – Bombay |
| United Provinces | | 6–10 February 1937 – Bombay | 6–10 February 1937 – Bombay |
| United Provinces | | Nawanagar | 424 & 383 |
| 29–31 January 1937 – Calcutta | 29–31 January 1937 – Calcutta | | Nawanagar | 424 & 383 |
| 29–31 January 1937 – Calcutta | 29–31 January 1937 – Calcutta | Bengal | 315 & 236 |
| Bengal | 299 & 158 | Bengal | 315 & 236 |
| Hyderabad | 170 & 160 | | |

### Semi-finals

* 29–31 January 1937 Only semi-final Scorecard
* Bengal won by 127 runs Eden Gardens, Calcutta
* Bengal won the toss and elected to bat.

### Final

* 6–10 February 1937 Scorecard
* Nawangar won by 256 runs Bombay Gymkhana, Bombay Umpires: J Birtwistle, Vali Ahmed
* Nawanagar won the toss and elected to bat.
* The match was played on a neutral venue.
* James Alexander (Bengal) made his first-class debut.

## Statistics
### Most runs

| Player | Team | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | Ave | HS | 100 | 50 |
| Sorabji Colah | Nawanagar | 4 | 8 | 0 | 384 | 48.00 | 136 | 1 | 2 |
| Amar Singh | Nawanagar | 4 | 8 | 1 | 335 | 47.85 | 103 | 1 | 3 |
| Vinoo Mankad | Nawanagar | 4 | 8 | 0 | 321 | 40.12 | 185 | 1 | 1 |
| Kartick Bose | Bengal | 4 | 8 | 1 | 235 | 33.57 | 60* | 0 | 2 |
| Graham Skinner | Bengal | 3 | 5 | 1 | 224 | 56.00 | 125 | 1 | 0 |

### Most wickets

| Player | Team | Mat | Overs | Wkts | Ave | BBI | SR |
| Amar Singh | Nawanagar | 4 | 209.1 | 28 | 16.82 | 8/62 | 44.8 |
| Stanley Behrend | Bengal | 4 | 110.2 | 19 | 18.57 | 5/29 | 34.8 |
| Firasat Hussain | United Provinces | 2 | 48.3 | 17 | 4.35 | 8/15 | 17.1 |
| Asadullah Qureshi | Hyderabad | 3 | 60.4 | 16 | 13.56 | 6/51 | 22.7 |
| Kamal Bhattacharya | Bengal | 4 | 116.5 | 15 | 18.80 | 3/19 | 46.7 |