The much-awaited Ranji Trophy is set to begin on February 16 across nine venues shortlisted by the BCCI. The Board has decided to conduct India’s premier first-class tournament in two phases—league stage before the Indian Premier League and knockout rounds after the cash-rich T20 league.

Sources indicated that the league stage will be conducted at nine venues—Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Rajkot, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Cuttack and Guwahati. The BCCI has decided to make eight Elite groups of four teams each with the remaining six teams forming the Plate group. Each team in the Elite groups will play a minimum of three league games.