Ranji Trophy: Here's everything you need to know about 2017-18 season

Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: The 84th season of the Ranji Trophy, India's premier first-class cricket tournament, will start on Friday with the first round actions featuring all 28 teams in their respective Group games.

Here's everything you need to know about the 2017-18 season of Ranji Trophy:

Teams and groups:

There are four groups with seven teams each. Defending champions Gujarat have been placed in Group B.

Group A: Karnataka, Delhi, Assam, Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh, Railways;
Group B: Jharkhand, Gujarat, Kerala, Saurashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir;
Group C: Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Baroda, Tripura;
Group D: Himachal Pradesh, Vidarbha, Punjab, Bengal, Services, Goa, Chhattisgarh

Schedule:

It starts on 6 October 2017, with as many as eight rounds before the knock-outs, which is scheduled to start on 7 December. The semi-finals are scheduled to start on 17 December. The final is scheduled to start on 29 December.

Round I from 6 - 9 Oct, Round II from 14 - 17 Oct, Round III from 24 - 27 Oct, Round IV from 1 - 4 November, Round V: 9 - 12 Nov, Round VI from 17 - 20 Nov and Round VII from 25 - 28 Nov.

Format:

It will follow round-robin format, then knockout will decide the quarter-finalists. Top two from each group qualify for the quarter-finals.

Points system:

Seven for a 10-wicket or innings victory, six for an outright win, three for a draw with first-innings lead, one for a draw.

Here are major pre-season transfers:

Robin Uthappa moves to Saurashtra from Karnataka;
Karn Sharma joins Vidarbha from Railways;
Ambati Rayudu joins Hyderabad from Vidarbha;
Piyush Chawla signs with Gujarat;
Dave Whatmore to coach Kerala;
PV Shashikanth to coach Karnataka;
Amit Verma leaves Assam, returns to Karnataka;
Ajay Ratra appointed Punjab coach;
SS Das to coach Odisha;
Sameer Dighe appointed Mumbai coach;
Lalchand Rajput replaces Sunil Joshi as Assam coach;
B Anirudh moves from Hyderabad to Tamil Nadu;
Arun Karthik moves from Assam to Kerala;
Jatin Saxena moves from Madhya Pradesh to Chhatisgarh;
Rahul Chahar moves from Rajasthan to Services;
Robin Bist leaves Himachal Pradesh, returns to Rajasthan;
GK Chiranjeevi moves from Andhra to Railways;
Vidhyadhar Kamath moves from Goa to Railways;
Abhishek Yadav moves from Odisha to Railways;
Deepak Punia moves from Saurashtra to Haryana;
Atul Bedade replaces Jacob Martin as Baroda coach.