Teams to be divided in six groups with matches to be played at six venues.
The matches are to be played in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, and Chennai. Kolkata has been reserved for the knockouts which are scheduled to start on February 20 after another round of five-day quarantine.
The five-day quarter-finals are to be played from February 28 to March 3 and the semi-finals will be held from March 8 to 12. The final has been scheduled for March 16-20.
The BCCI, in a comprehensive schedule of the domestic season, circulated among the state units on Monday (August 30), informed the teams about the groupings. There are six groups, including five Elite ones of six teams each and one plate group consisting of eight teams.
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Domestic powerhouses Mumbai, Karnataka, and Delhi clubbed together in group C along with Hyderabad, Maharashtra (also former champions), and Uttarakhand. Defending champions Saurashtra are in the Elite D group with Tamil Nadu, Railways, J&K, Jharkhand, and Goa.
The Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament starts on November 4 at six centers - Lucknow, Guwahati, Baroda, Delhi, Haryana (city not mentioned), and Vijayawada. The knockouts will be in Delhi from November 16 with the final slated for November 22.
The BCCI has not intimated the venues of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 50-over competition. It will run from December 8 to 27.
Apart from these tournaments, Men's State A one-day competition is from November 20 to December 10 with matches in Rajkot, Pondicherry, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mohali, and Guwahati. The knockouts have been allotted to Bangalore.
Men's Under-25 four-day championship for the CK Nayudu Trophy is from January 28 to March 31 with matches taking place at Nagpur, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Mohali, Jaipur, and Ranchi. Vijayawada will host the knockouts.
Ranji Trophy Groupings:
Elite A in Mumbai - Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, Services, Assam
Elite B in Bengaluru- Bengal, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Kerala, Haryana, Tripura
Elite C in Kolkata- Karnataka, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand
Elite D in Ahmedabad- Saurashtra, Tamil Nadu, Railways, J & K, Jharkhand, Goa
Elite E in Trivandrum- Andhra, Uttar Pradesh, Baroda, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Pondicherry
Plate in Chennai- Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal
(Cricbuzz inputs)