The domestic circuit: Ranji, Duleep, Irani and beyond

The season, in order

The Indian domestic calendar runs roughly from August to March and stacks six competitions back to back. Knowing the order is most of the battle.

1. Duleep Trophy — Aug/Sep A multi-day tournament between selected India squads, used as the red-ball season opener and a live audition for the Test bench.
2. Irani Cup — Sep/Oct Reigning Ranji champions against Rest of India. One match, huge selectorial weight.
3. Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy — Nov/Dec The domestic T20 competition, and effectively the IPL scouting window.
4. Vijay Hazare Trophy — Dec/Jan The 50-over competition, the format that has historically produced the cleanest read on ODI readiness.
5. Ranji Trophy — Jan/Feb/Mar The main event: 38 teams, group and knockout stages, a five-day final.
6. Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy — parallel The under-23 multi-day competition running alongside the senior season.

How the Ranji Trophy is structured

Thirty-eight teams are split into an Elite section of four groups plus a Plate group for the developing sides. Each Elite team plays seven league matches. Points are awarded 6 for an outright win, 3 for a first-innings lead in a drawn match, 1 for a draw without a lead, and 0 for a loss with a deficit — which is why the first-innings battle in a rain-hit February fixture can genuinely decide a season. The top two from each Elite group reach the quarter-finals; the Plate winner is promoted.

The competition's value to selection is enormous and slightly misunderstood. Raw runs are worth less than context. A hundred in Rajkot in January against a plate-level attack sits nowhere near an unbeaten 70 on a green top at the Holkar Stadium against a first-class attack containing two internationals. Our domestic ratings weight every innings by bowling quality, pitch behaviour and match situation, and publish the workings.

Add the compensation pool distributed to domestic players at the end of each season and a busy Ranji regular can earn ₹25–40 lakh across a full campaign. That is not IPL money, but it has turned domestic cricket into a viable career for players who will never be auctioned.

Which states are actually producing internationals

Mumbai remains the benchmark with 42 Ranji titles and an unbroken production line of technically orthodox batters. Karnataka's strength is pace: the state academy system in Bengaluru and Hubballi has produced more first-class seamers bowling above 135 km/h in the past decade than any other. Vidarbha's back-to-back titles in the late 2010s proved a well-run mid-size association can beat the big-city sides on structure alone.

The genuine growth stories are elsewhere. Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have invested in turf-wicket coverage at district level. The north-eastern associations, admitted to the senior circuit in 2018, are now producing under-19 players who hold their own in zonal cricket. Uttar Pradesh, with the largest player base in the country, remains the biggest underachiever relative to population — a recurring and heated thread on our boards.

Following it without paying anything

This is the good news. Live scoring for every Ranji, Vijay Hazare and Mushtaq Ali match is published free on the BCCI's official site, with full scorecards and ball-by-ball for most fixtures. Selected matches stream free on the BCCI's YouTube channel and on JioHotstar's free tier. Several state associations also run their own streams for home fixtures.

Ground entry is usually free or nominal — ₹0 to ₹100 at most venues. You can walk into a Ranji quarter-final at a Test ground, sit in an empty stand and watch international cricketers at work for the price of a bus ticket. It is the single most underrated experience in Indian sport, and our domestic board organises informal member meet-ups at knockout fixtures every season.