The BCCI has released the schedule of the much-awaited knockouts of Ranji Trophy. The knockout stage will commence on June 4 in Bengaluru as scheduled. At the same time, the tournament's final will be held on June 20.
Bengal will take on Jharkhand, and Mumbai will cross swords with Uttarakhand in the first two quarter-final games. Meanwhile, in the third and fourth quarter-final encounters, Karnataka and Punjab will face Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
The four victorious teams from the quarter-finals will qualify for the semifinal matches scheduled to be played from June 12.
The participating teams have been informed regarding the travel and staging association guidelines in a detailed manner by the BCCI secretary Mr. Jay Shah. The knockout games will be played in a slightly lenient bio-secure bubble according to the guidelines. The players will have an option to share the rooms during the knockout games like the recently-held Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy and the ongoing senior women's T20 tournament.
Talking about the group stage, Madhya Pradesh topped the elite group (A) with 14 points, whereas Bengal were the table topper of the elite group (B) with 12 points. Karnataka, Mumbai and Uttarakhand emerged as the best teams from elite groups (C), (D) and (E), respectively, with 16, 16 and 12 points. Meanwhile, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand topped in the elite groups (F), (G) and (H), respectively, with 16, 13 and 12 points.
Ranji Trophy Knockout Schedule:
Quarterfinals: June 4-8
1st Quarterfinal: Bengal vs Jharkhand
2nd Quarterfinal: Mumbai vs Uttarakhand
3rd Quarterfinal: Karnataka vs Uttar Pradesh
4th Quarterfinal: Punjab vs Madhya Pradesh
Semi-finals: June 12-16
Final: June 20-24