# 2018–19 Ranji Trophy

The 2018–19 Ranji Trophy was the 85th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament that took place in India between November 2018 and February 2019. Vidarbha were the defending champions. The final took place between Vidarbha and Saurashtra, starting on 3 February 2019. Vidarbha defeated Saurashtra by 78 runs in the final, to become the sixth team in the tournament's history to retain their title.

## Background

In April 2018, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reinstated Bihar for the competition, bringing the total teams to 29. In July 2018, the BCCI increased the total number of teams to 37, with the addition of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Pondicherry, Sikkim and Uttarakhand.

## Format

The tournament had four groups, with nine teams each in Groups A and B, and ten teams in Group C. All the new teams were placed in the Plate Group. The teams in the Plate Group were allowed to have up to three professional players in their squads. The top two teams from Group C and the top team in the Plate Group progressed to the quarter-finals of the tournament, along with five teams from Groups A and B.

## Summary
### League phase

The opening round of fixtures saw a total of 94 players making their first-class cricket debut.
In the third round match between Vidarbha and Baroda, Vidarbha's Wasim Jaffer became the first batsman to score 11,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy. In the fourth round match between Pondicherry and Mizoram, Pondicherry's Pankaj Singh set a new record for the most five-wicket hauls against different teams in the Ranji Trophy with 17. The fourth round of fixtures also saw the first occasion that seven captains scored centuries.
In round five, Paras Dogra batting for Pondicherry scored 253 runs against Sikkim. It was his eighth double century, going past Ajay Sharma's record of seven double centuries in the Ranji Trophy. Also in round five, Ajay Rohera set a new record for the highest score on debut in a first-class match. Batting for Madhya Pradesh against Hyderabad, he scored 267 not out, breaking the record of 260 runs set by Amol Mazumdar in 1994. Naman Ojha became the most successful wicket-keeper in Ranji Trophy history, breaking Vinayak Samant's record of 355 dismissals as wicket-keeper.
In the sixth round of fixtures, Milind Kumar of Sikkim became the first batsman to score 1,000 runs in this edition of the tournament. He did so in the match against Mizoram, in his ninth innings of the competition. In round seven of the tournament, Ashutosh Aman of Bihar became the first bowler to take 50 wickets in this years' Ranji Trophy tournament. He went on to finish the tournament with 68 wickets, breaking the previous record of 64 dismissals set by Bishan Singh Bedi in the 1974–75 tournament. Round eight saw Pankaj Singh of Pondicherry become the first seam bowler to take 400 wickets in the Ranji Trophy. In round nine, Tripura and Madhya Pradesh were both dismissed for just 35 runs in one of their innings.
The group stage of the tournament saw two captains retire from all forms of cricket. In November 2018, Gautam Gambhir initially stepped down as captain of Delhi, before announcing his retirement the following month. Gambhir went on to score 112 in his final innings, his 43rd century in first-class cricket. Saurashtra's captain, Jaydev Shah, also retired from cricket in December. He made record for most matches as captain in Ranji Trophy.
The ninth round match between Vidarbha and Saurashtra was Wasim Jaffer's 146th match in the Ranji Trophy. He broke Devendra Bundela's record of playing in the most Ranji matches.
On 2 January 2019, Rajasthan from Group C became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals, after they beat Goa by ten wickets. Ahead of the penultimate round of fixtures, ten teams across Groups A and B still had a chance to progress to the quarter-finals. Vidarbha became the first team to qualify from Group A, after Baroda beat Karnataka by two wickets in their final group-stage match. Despite the loss, Karnataka also qualified from Group A. Uttarakhand won the Plate Group and advanced to the quarter-finals. On the final day of the group stage, Saurashtra and Gujarat from Group A, Kerala from Group B and Uttar Pradesh from Group C had also qualified for the quarter-finals.
Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra across Groups A and B were relegated to Group C, while Goa were relegated from Group C to the Plate Group for the next season.

### Knockout phase

Kerala were the first team to progress from the quarter-finals, after they beat Gujarat by 113 runs. It was the first time in the team's history that they had reached the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy, beating their previous best of the quarter-finals, in the previous edition. The second team to qualify for the semi-finals was Karnataka, after they beat Rajasthan by six wickets. Defending champions Vidarbha beat Uttarakhand from the Plate Group by an innings and 115 runs to reach the semi-finals. In the last quarter-final fixture to finish, Saurashtra completed the highest successful run chase to win a match in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 372 runs to beat Uttar Pradesh by six wickets.
The first semi-final saw the defending champions Vidarbha beat Kerala by an innings and 11 runs inside two days. Wasim Jaffer became the first batsman to score 1,000 runs in two different seasons of the Ranji Trophy. Umesh Yadav took his best match figures in first-class cricket, taking twelve wickets for 79 runs. In the second semi-final, Saurashtra defeated Karnataka by five wickets.
Vidarbha defeated Saurashtra by 78 runs in the final, to become the sixth team in the tournament's history to retain their title. Vidarbha's captain Faiz Fazal said that "it is not easy to win the Ranji Trophy. To win eleven matches, it's not a fluke. If anyone thought last year was a fluke, we have proven ourselves again". For Saurashtra, it was their third straight loss in Ranji Trophy finals, with their captain Jaydev Unadkat saying he was really proud of how his team performed during the tournament.

## Player transfers

The following player transfers were approved ahead of the season. All the new teams in the Plate Group also transferred players into their squads, along with signing professionals.
| Player | From | To |
| Karn Sharma | Vidarbha | Andhra |
| Harpreet Singh Bhatia | Madhya Pradesh | Chhattisgarh |
| Krishna Das | Assam | Goa |
| Amit Verma | Assam | Goa |
| Urvil Patel | Baroda | Gujarat |
| Irfan Pathan | Baroda | Jammu & Kashmir |
| Chandrakant Sakure | Madhya Pradesh | Railways |
| Madhur Khatri | Rajasthan | Railways |
| Rajat Paliwal | Haryana | Services |
| Arjun Sharma | Himachal Pradesh | Services |
| Abhishek Tiwari | Uttar Pradesh | Services |
| Harmeet Singh Baddhan | Jammu & Kashmir | Tripura |
| Bravish Shetty | Mumbai | Tripura |

## Teams

The teams were drawn in the following groups:

## Knockout stage

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| A1 | Vidarbha | 629 | | | | | | |
| P1 | Uttarakhand | 355 & 159 | | | | | | |
| P1 | Uttarakhand | 355 & 159 | A1 | Vidarbha | 208 | | | |
| | | | B1 | Kerala | 106 & 91 | | | |
| B1 | Kerala | 185 & 171 | B1 | Kerala | 106 & 91 | | | |
| A4 | Gujarat | 162 & 81 | | | | | | |
| A4 | Gujarat | 162 & 81 | | | | A1 | Vidarbha | 312 & 200 |
| | | | | | | A2 | Saurashtra | 307 & 127 |
| A2 | Saurashtra | 208 & 372/4 | | | | | | | A2 | Saurashtra | 307 & 127 |
| C2 | Uttar Pradesh | 385 & 194 | | | | | | |
| C2 | Uttar Pradesh | 385 & 194 | A2 | Saurashtra | 236 & 282/5 | | | |
| | | | A3 | Karnataka | 275 & 239 | | | |
| A3 | Karnataka | 263 & 185/4 | A3 | Karnataka | 275 & 239 | | | |
| C1 | Rajasthan | 224 & 222 | | | | | | |

### Quarter-finals

* 15–19 January 2019 1st Quarter-final Scorecard
* Vidarbha won by an innings and 115 runs Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur Umpires: Amiesh Saheba and Sudhir Asnani Player of the match: Umesh Yadav (Vidarbha)
* Vidarbha won the toss and elected to field.
* Avneesh Sudha (Uttarakhand) made his first-class debut.
* Wasim Jaffer (Vidarbha) scored his 19,000th run in first-class cricket.
* 15–19 January 2019 2nd Quarter-final Scorecard
* Saurashtra won by 6 wickets Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow Umpires: Abhijit Deshmukh and Rohan Pandit Player of the match: Harvik Desai (Saurashtra)
* Uttar Pradesh won the toss and elected to bat.
* Rahul Rawat (Uttar Pradesh) made his first-class debut.
* Harvik Desai (Saurashtra) scored his maiden first-class century.
* This was the highest successful run chase to win a match in the Ranji Trophy.
* 15–19 January 2019 3rd Quarter-final Scorecard
* Karnataka won by 6 wickets M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: Nikhil Patwardhan and Nand Kishore Player of the match: Vinay Kumar (Karnataka)
* Karnataka won the toss and elected to field.
* Tanveer Ul-Haq became the first bowler for Rajasthan to take 50 wickets in a single edition of the Ranji Trophy.
* 15–19 January 2019 4th Quarter-final Scorecard
* Kerala won by 113 runs Krishnagiri Stadium, Wayanad Umpires: Krishnaraj Srinath and Tapan Sharma Player of the match: Basil Thampi (Kerala)
* Gujarat won the toss and elected to field.
* Rahul Shah (Gujarat) made his first-class debut.
* Roosh Kalaria (Gujarat) took a hat-trick.
* This was the first time that Kerala had progressed to the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy.

### Semi-finals

* 24–28 January 2019 1st Semi-final Scorecard
* Vidarbha won by an innings and 11 runs Krishnagiri Stadium, Wayanad Umpires: Anil Dandekar and Virender Sharma Player of the match: Umesh Yadav (Vidarbha)
* Vidarbha won the toss and elected to field.
* 24–28 January 2019 2nd Semi-final Scorecard
* Saurashtra won by 5 wickets M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: Ulhas Gandhe and Saiyed Khalid Player of the match: Cheteshwar Pujara (Saurashtra)
* Karnataka won the toss and elected to bat.
* Jaydev Unadkat became the second bowler for Saurashtra, after Kamlesh Makvana, to take 200 wickets in the Ranji Trophy.
* Dharmendrasinh Jadeja became the first bowler for Saurashtra to take 50 wickets in a Ranji Trophy season.

### Final

* 3–7 February 2019 Final Scorecard
* Vidarbha won by 78 runs Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur Umpires: Chettithody Shamshuddin and Anil Chaudhary Player of the match: Aditya Sarwate (Vidarbha)
* Vidarbha won the toss and elected to bat.
* Wasim Jaffer (Vidarbha) played in his tenth Ranji Trophy final, and has been on the winning side every time.