Follow UsThe Ranji Trophy 2024-25 is now approaching the business end with the last round of the league stages beginning January 30 (Thursday). Even with the seventh round of the league matches underway, nearly half of the 32 teams in the Elite group are in contention for the seven spots up for grabs in the knockout stage.
The last round will also feature star attractions such as Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav among others.
Here are the qualification scenarios of all teams in all groups
In group A, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) are leading with 29 points from six games. Baroda are at the second spot with 27 points and Mumbai at the third with 22. Apart from these three, no other team has a realistic qualification chance.
Since J&K are facing Baroda, a result in that game would mean that only one of them would be able to qualify. The reason for that is Mumbai’s last game. They will face Meghalaya in the last round and hence are likely to get six points for a win and a bonus for a big win.
However, if the Boroda vs J&K match ends in a draw with Baroda claiming the first-innings lead, Mumbai will be knocked out as they will have only 29 points while the rest of the two will have 30.
But in the case of J&K taking the first innings lead and Mumbai winning their game with bonus points, it will be the team from the north and that would go through along with Ajinkya Rahane led side.
In group B, the scenario is the simplest of the lot. Vidarbha with 34 points are already in the quarterfinals. Himachal Pradesh, because they lost their last game against Hyderabad, are now in a must-win situation against Gujarat away from home. Himachal have 21 points and the home team Gujarat 26. Thus even a draw with first innings lead conceded will also do for the Gujarat team.
In group C, Kerala are the safest side as they are playing bottom-placed Bihar. All they need to do is win the game with a bonus point. At 21 points already after a hard-fought draw in their previous game, the South Indian side will have home advantage as well and can make do with seven points.
They will reach 28 and thus the pressure will be on the other four teams in contention–Haryana (25), Karnataka (18) and Bengal (14). If Kerala win, Bengal will be automatically knocked out. For the Karnataka team, they would need to win their home game against table toppers Haryana by a bonus point.
If Karnataka win by bonus point and Kerala win, Haryana will be knocked out. If the Haryana side manages to stop Karnataka from getting the bonus point, they will reach the last eight. The only way Kerala cannot go through to the last eight would be by not winning it.
In group D it is a tough fight once again, This is also the group that has Virat Kohli’s Delhi in it. At the top are Tamil Nadu with 25 points and they play Jharkhand, who have 14. The second-placed team are Chandigarh who play Chhattisgarh.
If both Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh win their matches outright, the rest of the teams will be relegated automatically. Tamil Nadu are most certain to go unless they lose and Chandigarh and Saurashtra (18 points) win their games.
For Saurashtra, it is to win their match and hope at least Chandigarh do not win. For Delhi to qualify, they must win their game and hope that Chhattisgarh beat Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu beat Jharkhand or at least take the first-innings lead and Assam either beat or take first innings lead against Saurashtra.