Defending champion Mumbai has been placed alongside last season’s semifinalist Punjab and formidable teams like Delhi and Karnataka in Group ‘A’ of the Ranji Trophy league for the 2013-14 season.
According to the groups announced on Tuesday following the meeting of the Board’s Tour Programme and Fixtures Committee, runner-up Saurashtra heads Group ‘B’ which includes Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Baroda and Uttar Pradesh.
Hyderabad leads Group ‘C’, consisting of not-so-strong states, and finds Maharashtra as the leading challenger among the remaining eight teams.
Schedule on July 8
The schedule of matches will be announced on July 8.
The decisions taken by the Board’s Technical Committee will be implemented from the forthcoming season. This year, after the third round of the league, the gap between the matches will be four days — one more than in the past.
The knock-out phase of one-day tournaments — Vijay Hazare Trophy and Deodhar Trophy — will be played under lights. It was also decided to do away with the bonus point system in these tournaments.
The women’s under-16 and under-19 matches, both one-dayers and T20, will be played on an Elite and Plate group basis, using white balls and coloured clothing.
The groupings:
Group ‘A’: Mumbai, Punjab, Gujarat, Delhi, Karnataka, Orissa, Haryana, Vidarbha and Jharkhand.
Group ‘B’: Saurashtra, Services, Uttar Pradesh, Railways, Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
Group ‘C’: Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Andhra, Assam, Kerala, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Tripura.
