Ranji Trophy 2026-27 Begins on Sunday: Jammu and Kashmir Defend Their Title, Bihar Return to the Elite Group

The 92nd Ranji Trophy begins on Sunday 11 October, with defending champions Jammu and Kashmir opening against Madhya Pradesh in Srinagar. The first round runs until 14 October, with play starting at 9:30 AM IST.

Thirty-eight teams take part: 32 in four Elite groups of eight, and six in the Plate group. The top two from each Elite group reach the quarter-finals. The first phase, four rounds, runs from 11 October to 5 November. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy are played in between, and the second phase follows from January. The quarter-finals are on 9 to 13 February, the semi-finals on 18 to 22 February, and the final from 27 February to 3 March.

Group A has Baroda, Bihar, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha. Group B is Andhra, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Hyderabad, Karnataka, Punjab, Saurashtra and Tripura. Group C is Bengal, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and Services. Group D is Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Mumbai, Railways, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand.

Jammu and Kashmir won last season's title and start their defence in Group A alongside Bihar, who return to the Elite level. Bihar's teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is expected to join them later in the season because of national duty. Mumbai, 42-time champions, lead Group D, with reports naming Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan among their players.

Other opening-round matches include Bengal v Delhi at Kalyani, Mumbai v Chandigarh in Mumbai, Bihar v Uttar Pradesh at Rajgir, Rajasthan v Tamil Nadu in Jaipur, Services v Maharashtra in New Delhi, Vidarbha v Pondicherry in Nagpur, and Punjab v Assam at Mullanpur.