DESCRIPTION:
* The 2017-18 Ranji Trophy is scheduled to be the 84th season of the Ranji Trophy, the premier first-class cricket tournament in India.
* The previous season was played at neutral venues.
* For this season, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) agreed to return to playing fixtures at home and away venues after the neutral venue trial was unpopular with domestic captains.
* However, the knock-out phase of the tournament will continue to be played at neutral venues.
* The other change from the previous season will be an increase in the number of groups from three to four, with each team playing six fixtures in the group stage.
* The top two teams from each group will progress to the quarterfinals.
* The season is scheduled to start on 6 October 2017, with the quarter-finals on 7 December 2017, the semi-finals on December 17 2017, and the final being held from 29 December 2017 to 2 January 2018.
* Gujarat are the defending champions.
* Odisha have been placed in Group C along with Tripura, Andhra, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Baroda and Madhya Pradesh.
GROUPINGS:
Group-A: Assam, Delhi, Hyderabad, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Railways, Uttar Pradesh
Group-B: Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan, Saurashtra
Group-C: Odisha, Tripura, Andhra, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Baroda and Madhya Pradesh
Group-D: Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Services, Vidarbha.
ODISHA MATCHES:
Oct 6-9: Vs Tripura at Vikash Ground, Bhubaneswar
Oct 24-27: Vs Andhra in Andhra
Nov 1-4: Vs Mumbai at KIIT Ground, Bhubaneswar
Nov 9-12: Vs Tamil Nadu at DRIEMS Ground, Cuttack
Nov 17-20: Vs Baroda in Baroda
Nov 25-28: Vs Madhya Pradesh at Indore
ODISHA TEAM FOR 1ST MATCH AGAINST TRIPURA: Sandeep Patnaik, Natraj Behera, Santanu Mishra, Abinash Saha, Gobinda Poddar (captain), Ranjit Singh, Subhranshu Senapati, Biplab Samantray, Saurabh Rawat (wicket-keeper), Dhiraj Singh, Basanta Mohanty, Suryakanta Pradhan, Alok Sahoo, Alok Mangaraj, Deepak Behera.
Support staff: Shiv Sundar Das (Coach), Subhakant Sahoo (Physio), Manoj Biswal (Trainer).
ODISHA TEAM FOR 2ND MATCH AGAINST ANDHRA: Sandeep Pattnaik, Natraj Behera, Santanu Mishra, Abinash Saha, Gobinda Poddar (Captain), Subhranshu Senapati, Biplab Samantray, Saurabh Rawat (wk), Dhiraj Singh, Basant Mohanty (Vice-captain), Suryakanta Pradhan, Alok Sahoo, Alok Mangaraj, Deepak Behera, Subham Nayak. Coach-cum-Manager: Shiv Sundar Das; Physio: Subhakant Sahoo; Trainer: Manoj Biswal.
ODISHA TEAM FOR MATCH AGAINST MUMBAI: Sandeep Pattanaik, Natraj Behera, Santanu Mishra, Govinda Poddar (Captain), Subhranshu Senapati, Biplab Samantaray, Saurabh Rawat (WK), Dhiraj Singh, Basant Mohanty (Vice-captain), Suryakant Pradha, Alok Sahoo, Alok Mangaraj, Deepak Behera, Aravinda Singh, Prayask Kumar Singh. Manager: Subhasish Bhuyan, Coach: Shiv Sundar Das, Physio: Subhakant Sahoo, Trainer: Manoj Biswal.
ODISHA TEAM FOR MATCH AGAINST TAMIL NADU: Sandeep Pattanaik, Natraj Behera, Santanu Mishra, Govinda Poddar (Captain), Subhranshu Senapati, Biplab Samantaray, Rajesh Dhuper (WK), Dhiraj Singh, Basant Mohanty (Vice-captain), Suryakant Pradha, Alok Sahoo, Alok Mangaraj, Deepak Behera, Ranjit Singh, Abinash Saha.
Support staff: Nrusingha Choudhury (Manager), Shiv Sundar Das (Coach), Subhakant Sahoo (Physio), Manoj Biswal (Trainer).
ODISHA TEAM FOR MATCHES AGAINST BARODA AND MADHYA PRADESH: Sandeep Patnaik, Nataraj Behera, Santanu Mishra, Saurabh Rawat, Gobinda Poddar (Captain), Subhranshu Senapati, Biplab Samantaray, Rajesh Dhuper (WK), Ranjit Singh, Dhiraj Singh, Basanta Mohanty (Vice-captain), Suryakanta Pradhan, Alok Sahoo, Deepak Behera, Subham Nayak.
Support Staff: Manager: Siba Prasad Tripathy, Coach: Shiv Sundar Das, Physio: Subhakant Sahoo, Trainer: Manoj Biswal.