1934–35 Ranji Trophy

The 1934–35 Ranji Trophy was the inaugural edition of India's first-class cricket championship. The tournament was originally titled The Cricket Championship of India, but was renamed as the Ranji Trophy ahead of the 1935–36 edition.[3] The first tournament ran from 4 November 1934 to 12 March 1935 and was contested in a knockout format by 15 teams divided into four zones. In the opening match, Madras defeated Mysore by an innings and 23 runs at the Chepauk Stadium and the match ended five minutes before close of play on the first day. It remains (to 2023) the only Ranji Trophy match to be completed in a single day's play. In the final, Bombay defeated Northern India by 208 runs at the Bombay Gymkhana Ground.

1934–35 Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy
Dates4 November 1934 – 12 March 1935
Administrator(s)BCCI
Cricket formatFirst-class
Tournament format(s)Knockout
ChampionsBombay (1st title)
Participants15
Matches14
Most runsVijay Merchant (Bombay) (389)[1]
Most wicketsA. G. Ram Singh (Madras) (22)[2]
Official websitehttp://www.bcci.tv

Teams edit

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hoped for a nationwide participation but some states including Bengal, Bihar, and Rajputana declined or were unable to take part. The fifteen founder teams are listed alphabetically by zone and the sides that won each zonal title are in bold.

Highlights edit

  • The first match of the competition was held on 4 November 1934 between Madras and Mysore at Chepauk.[4] M. J. Gopalan of Madras bowled the first ball to N. Curtis.
  • Madras won the match by an innings and 23 runs, five minutes before the close of play on the first day. As of 2022, this is the only first-class match in India to finish in a single day.
  • S. M. Hadi of Hyderabad hit the first century in the Ranji Trophy. He scored 132* against Madras at Secunderabad.[5]
  • George Abell of Northern India scored the first double hundred, with 210 v Army. In the same innings, he was involved in a partnership of 304 with Ahmed Raza.[6]
  • Abell scored a century before lunch on the second day (24* to 128*), the first such instance in the Ranji Trophy.[7]
  • Baqa Jilani took a hat-trick for Northern India v Southern Punjab in the semifinal at Amritsar.[8]
  • Southern Punjab was all out for 22 in the same innings. This remained the lowest team total in the Ranji Trophy until Hyderabad was all out for 21 against Rajasthan in 2010–11.
  • Madras was intended to be the venue of the semi-final between Bombay and Hyderabad, but it was moved to Bombay as the cricket association in Madras was not in a position to host it. Subsequently, Hyderabad declined to travel, meaning the semi-final was a walkover to Bombay.

Zonal Matches edit

East Zone edit

 
Round 1
 
  
 
26–27 December 1934 – Nagpur
 
 
Central Provinces and Berar115 & 194
 
 
Central India237 & 79/0
 

North Zone edit

 
Round 1Round 2Round 3
 
          
 
 
 
 
29–31 January 1935 – Patiala
 
 
Southern Punjab216
 
8–9 December 1934 – Agra
 
United Provinces56 & 119/3
 
United Provinces228
 
5–7 February 1935 – Amritsar
 
Delhi37 & 92
 
Southern Punjab135 & 22
 
 
Northern India142 & 106
 
 
4–6 December 1934 – Lahore
 
 
Northern India459
 
 
Army203 & 204
 
 
 
 

South Zone edit

 
Round 1Round 2
 
      
 
 
 
 
23–25 Nov 1934 – Secunderabad
 
 
Hyderabad256 & 227
 
4 Nov 1934 – Chennai
 
Madras301 & 169
 
Madras130
 
 
Mysore48 & 59
 

West Zone edit

 
Round 1Round 2Round 3
 
          
 
 
 
 
16–18 February 1935 – Pune
 
 
Maharashtra260 & 72/1
 
2–4 February 1935 – Ahmedabad
 
Bombay286 & 172/7d
 
Gujarat106 & 166/4
 
23–25 February 1934 – Bombay
 
Bombay231 & 300/7d
 
Bombay377 & 164
 
 
Western India154 & 241
 
 
16–18 November 1934 – Karachi
 
 
Sind125 & 210
 
 
Western India219 & 118/6
 
 
 
 

Inter-Zonal Knockout Stage edit

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
BombayWalkover
 
9–12 March 1935 – Bombay
 
Hyderabad
 
Bombay266 & 300
 
9–11 February 1935 – Amritsar
 
Northern India219 & 139
 
Northern India192 & 195
 
 
Central India145 & 243/6
 

Final edit

9–12 March 1935
Scorecard
Bombay (H)
v
266 (80.4 overs)
Padmakar Chury 58
Mubarak Ali 4/71 (25 overs)
219 (82.2 overs)
Ahmed Raza 50
Vijay Merchant 3/53 (19 overs)
300 (88.1 overs)
Vijay Merchant 120
Devraj Puri 6/101 (27.1 overs)
139 (48.1 overs)
Ahmed Raza 62*
Hormasji Vajifdar 8/40 (20.1 overs)
Bombay won by 208 runs
Bombay Gymkhana, Bombay
Umpires: J Birtwistle and Vali Ahmed
  • Bombay won the toss and elected to bat.

References edit

  1. ^ Most runs. CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 July 2014. (subscription required)
  2. ^ Most wickets. CricketArchive. Retrieved 6 July 2014. (subscription required)
  3. ^ Mathew, Joshua (5 February 2019). "Ranji Trophy: 85 years, and counting". The Week. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  4. ^ Madras v Mysore. Cricket Archive. Retrieved 5 February 2024. (subscription required)
  5. ^ Hyderabad v Madras. Cricket Archive. Retrieved 5 February 2024. (subscription required)
  6. ^ Northern India v Army. Cricket Archive. Retrieved 5 February 2024. (subscription required)
  7. ^ Century before lunch in first class cricket. ACS. Retrieved 5 February 2024. (subscription required)
  8. ^ Southern Punjab v Northern India. Cricket Archive. Retrieved 5 February 2024. (subscription required)

External links edit