Seven elite group toppers Bengal, Mumbai, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have made the cut directly to the Ranji Trophy 2022 quarter-finals after the conclusion of the third and final league round on Sunday (March 6).

Defending champions Saurashtra failed to qualify and it is now certain there will be a new champion.

Having finished with least points among the eight elite group toppers, Jharkhand will face Plate toppers Nagaland in a one-off pre-quarterfinal from March 12 for the final spot in the quarter-finals.

Group E toppers Uttarakhand and Jharkhand (Group H) finished with 12 points each but the former with a better run-rate quotient of 1.424 advanced into the quarters directly.

The quarter-finals are scheduled to get underway in June after the conclusion of IPL 2022.

The premier domestic cricket tournament was set to return in January but had to be postponed to February with BCCI introducing a new compressed format, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced break of almost two years, the longest interruption ever.

(PTI inputs)