Sport - Cricket   

Ranji Trophy: Railways, Baroda open campaign with away matches

By Our Special Correspondent

KOLKATA AUG. 22. The holder Railways and last year's finalist Baroda will open their 2002-2003 National cricket championship for the Ranji Trophy with away games from November 9 to 12.

Railways will play five of the seven matches away and two at home, the plight of Baroda is even worse. The team will only one game at home, according to the programme circulated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to all its affiliated units.

As per the Board's decision, three best-placed teams in the last year's zonal league are accommodated in the elite 15 and the rest are placed in the plate 12. The 15 elite teams from all the five zones are divided into two groups, called A and B, by lots. The group A consisted of eight teams and group B comprises seven. Similarly, the plate teams are also placed in two group of six each.

As many as 28 matches will be played in the elite group A and 21 games in group B. The plate group A and B will see 15 matches each. Venues for matches involving Tamil Nadu and Gujarat (elite B group), Goa and Tripura and Saurashtra and Vidarbha (plate A group) will be decided later by lots. This is because the teams involved in these games are meeting for the first time and their associations are registered with the Board on the same year. Normally, in such a situation the senior association will have the right to host.

The groupings:

Elite group A: Railways, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Andhra, Himachal Pradesh, Bengal and Rajasthan. Group B: Baroda, Punjab, Orissa, Assam, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Plate group A: Goa, Saurashtra, Kerala, Services, Vidarbha and Tripura. Group B: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir and Bihar.

The fixtures: Nov. 9-12, 2002: Elite group A: Delhi vs Railways (Delhi); Mumbai vs Hyderabad (Mumbai); Andhra vs HP (Andhra); Bengal vs Rajasthan (Kolkata). Group B: Baroda vs Punjab (Mohali); Orissa vs Assam (Guwahati); Gujarat vs UP (Ahmedabad). Plate group A: Goa vs Saurashtra (Rajkot); Kerala vs Services (Services); Vidarbha vs Tripura (Vidarbha). Group B: Karnataka vs Maharashtra (Pune); Madhya Pradesh vs Haryana (Haryana); J&K vs Bihar (Bihar).

Nov. 17-20: Elite group A: Railways vs Rajasthan (Jaipur); Delhi vs Mumbai (Mumbai); Hyderabad vs Andhra (Andhra); HP vs Bengal (Kolkata). Group B: Baroda vs Tamil Nadu (Chennai); Punjab vs Orissa (Cuttack); Assam vs Gujarat (Ahmedabad). Plate group A: Goa vs Tripura (*); Saurashtra vs Kerala (Rajkot); Services vs Vidarbha (Vidarbha). Group B: Karnataka vs Bihar (Bihar); Maharashtra vs MP (Indore); Haryana vs J&K (J&K).

Nov. 27-30: Elite group A: Railways vs Bengal (Kolkata); Delhi vs HP (Delhi); Mumbai vs Andhra (Mumbai); Hyderabad vs Rajasthan (Rajasthan). Group B: Baroda vs Orissa (Cuttack); Punjab vs Assam (Mohali); UP vs TN (Chennai). Plate group A: Goa vs Vidarbha (Vidarbha); Saurashtra vs Services (Rajkot); Kerala vs Tripura (Kerala). Group B: Karnataka vs J&K (Bangalore); Maharashtra vs Haryana (Haryana); MP vs Bihar (Indore).

Dec. 19-22: Elite group A: Railways vs Mumbai (Railways); Delhi vs Andhra (Delhi); Hyderabad vs Bengal (Hyderabad); HP vs Rajasthan (Rajasthan). Group B: Baroda vs Gujarat (Ahmedabad); Punjab vs UP (Mohali); Orissa vs TN (Chennai). Plate group A: Goa vs Kerala (Kerala); Saurashtra vs Vidarbha (*); Services vs Tripura (Services). Group B: Karnataka vs MP (Indore); Maharashtra vs J&K (Pune); Haryana vs Bihar (Haryana).

Dec. 28-31: Elite group A: Railways vs Andhra (Andhra); Rajasthan vs Delhi (Rajasthan); Mumbai vs Bengal (Mumbai); Hyderabad vs HP (HP). Group B: Baroda vs Assam (Baroda); Orissa vs UP (Kanpur); Gujarat vs TN (*). Plate group A: Goa vs Services (Services); Saurashtra vs Tripura (Rajkot); Kerala vs Vidarbha (Vidarbha).Group B: Karnataka vs Haryana (Haryana); Maharashtra vs Bihar (Bihar); MP vs J&K (Indore).

Jan. 25-28, 2003: Elite group A: Railways vs Hyderabad (Hyderabad); Delhi vs Bengal (Delhi); Mumbai vs HP (Mumbai); Andhra vs Rajasthan (Rajasthan). Group B: Baroda vs UP (UP); Punjab vs Gujarat (Ahmedabad); Assam vs TN (Guwahati). Feb. 1-4: Elite group A: Railways vs HP (Railways); Delhi vs Hyderabad (Hyderabad); Mumbai vs Rajasthan (Rajasthan); Bengal vs Andhra (Kolkata). Group B: Punjab vs TN (Mohali); Orissa vs Gujarat (Ahmedabad); Assam vs UP (Guwahati).(*) Venue to be decided by lots because the teams are meeting for the first time.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Athletics

• Anil Kumar betters National record
  
  Cricket
  
• A priceless effort by Dravid
• MAC-TNCA XI squeaks through
• Ranji Trophy: Railways, Baroda open campaign with away matches
• Full-strength Australian team for Champions Trophy
• Speed denies 'climb down'
  
  Golf
  
• Digvijay in command
  
  Sports : General
  
• Arjuna Awards selection: back to square one?
• Chitra bags gold
• Satheesha Rai stripped of medal
  
  Tennis
  
• Ratiwatana quells Ghouse's challenge
• Nirupama loses
• Hingis in quarterfinals
• Haas moves up
  
  Volleyball
  
• India Seniors corners glory
  
  Cycling
  
• Kerala bounces back with a bang
  
  Bridge
  
• Kirubakaran's team in lead
  
  

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu