2016–17 Ranji Trophy

The 2016–17 Ranji Trophy was the 83rd season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India. Unlike previous seasons, the 2016–17 tournament was played at neutral venues.^[1][2][3] Captains and coaches were supportive of the change.^[4] Chhattisgarh cricket team made their debut in the competition, becoming the 28th team to compete in this edition of the Ranji Trophy.^[5][6] Mumbai were the defending champions.^[7] Gujarat beat Mumbai in the final by 5 wickets to win their first title.^[8]

Dates6 October 2016 – 14 January 2017

AdministratorBCCI

Cricket formatFirst-class cricket

Tournament formatRound-robin then knockout

Quick facts Dates, Administrator ...

2016–17 Ranji Trophy

The Ranji Trophy, awarded to the winners
Dates	6 October 2016 – 14 January 2017
Administrator	BCCI
Cricket format	First-class cricket
Tournament format	Round-robin then knockout
Host	India
Champions	Gujarat (1st title)
Participants	28
Most runs	Priyank Panchal (1,310) (Gujarat)
Most wickets	Shahbaz Nadeem (56) (Jharkhand)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Close

In September 2016, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the dates, groups and fixtures for the competition.^[9] The pink ball was used in the tournament, to help the BCCI make a decision on playing a day/night Test match.^[10]

In October 2016 during the Group B fixture between Maharashtra and Delhi, Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne playing for Maharashtra, set a record partnership total in the Ranji Trophy, with 594 runs. It was also the second-highest partnership in the history of first-class cricket.^[11]

Two group stage fixtures, the Group A match between Gujarat and Bengal and the Group C match between Hyderabad and Tripura, were abandoned because of smog pollution.^[12] Initially, the BCCI rescheduled the fixtures to take place after the conclusion of the group stages.^[12] As a result of the rescheduled matches, the dates of the matches in the knockout phase of the competition were moved back to accommodate the rearranged fixtures.^[12] Both the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) opposed the rescheduling of the fixtures.^[13] The MCA joint-secretary Unmesh Khanvilkar said that it "gives unfair advantage to the participating teams with respect to their qualification the knockout phase".^[13] Kasi Viswanathan, secretary of the TNCA, said that "the matches should not be rescheduled and that points should be shared".^[13] The BCCI reviewed the decision to reschedule the matches.^[14] In December 2016, they revoked the changes and awarded each team one point from the abandoned matches.^[15]

Mumbai, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu from Group A, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Odisha from Group B and Hyderabad and Haryana from Group C all qualified for the knockout stage of the tournament.^{[16][17][18][19]} The dates of the quarter-finals were brought forward by one day and the semi-finals by two days.^[20] The Holkar Stadium in Indore hosted the final on 10 January 2017, two days earlier than originally planned.^[20]

In the semi-finals Gujarat beat Jharkhand by 123 runs to reach only their second final in the history of the Ranji Trophy, having previously played in the 1950–51 final.^[21] Mumbai beat Tamil Nadu by 6 wickets to progress to their 46th final in the Ranji Trophy.^[22]