Ranji Trophy Winners List From 1934 To 2026

India’s premier domestic cricket competition has been running since 1934.

The Ranji Trophy carries the name of Ranjitsinhji, the pioneering cricketer who represented England at the international level.

This tournament has shaped Indian cricket more than any other domestic competition.

Vidarbha took home the 2024–25 title after a tense final against Kerala.

The match ended in a draw, but Vidarbha’s first-innings advantage sealed the win.

It marked their third championship and confirmed their status as a dominant force in red-ball cricket.

The 2025–26 season is running right now with teams competing for glory and spots in the national setup.

Ranji Trophy Winners List From 1934 To 2026

Full Winners And Runners-Up From 1934 To 2026

The Ranji Trophy has crowned champions for nine decades now. Teams from every region of India have battled through grueling schedules to claim this title. Some dominated for years while others broke through unexpectedly.

Below is the complete breakdown of Ranji Trophy winners and runners-up across all seasons:

The Beginning And Growth Years

The first Ranji Trophy season kicked off in 1934–35. Bombay became the inaugural champions, setting the tone for what would become one of cricket’s greatest domestic competitions.

The tournament honored Ranjitsinhji, who had broken barriers decades earlier by playing for England despite being Indian.

The early structure used zones. North, West, East, and South zones competed separately before meeting in the knockouts.

This kept travel manageable and rivalries intense within regions. In 1952–53, the Central zone joined, expanding the tournament’s reach.

By 2002–03, the format had changed completely. The zones disappeared, and a two-division system took over.

Elite teams faced each other while Plate teams got their own competition. This setup gave 38 teams across India a chance to compete and develop. The structure’s still in place today.

Mumbai’s Dominance Over 90 Years

No team comes close to Mumbai’s record in the Ranji Trophy. They’ve won 42 titles, which is ridiculous when you look at the numbers.

Karnataka sits second with just 8 wins. Delhi has 7. Mumbai’s success isn’t even in the same conversation as everyone else.

Their run from 1958–59 to 1972–73 was pure dominance. Fifteen straight championships without losing once.

During that stretch, Rajasthan kept making finals and kept losing. They faced Mumbai six times in the finals and came up short every time. That kind of consistency broke teams mentally.

What made Mumbai so good? The infrastructure was better, the coaching was sharper, and the talent pool was deeper.

Players grew up knowing what winning looked like. That culture fed itself across generations and created a machine that churned out champions.

New Teams Rising To The Top

The last ten years have shaken things up. Teams like Vidarbha, Saurashtra, and Madhya Pradesh aren’t traditional powers, but they’ve grabbed titles and made noise.

The tournament’s more balanced now than it’s been in decades.

Vidarbha won back-to-back titles in 2017–18 and 2018–19. Nobody expected that. They had solid players across the board and knew how to handle pressure moments.

Their third win in 2024–25 showed it wasn’t a fluke. They’ve built something real.

Saurashtra’s toughness stands out. They won in 2019–20 and 2022–23, both times showing serious grit in tight matches.

They don’t have the biggest names, but they fight harder than most teams when it matters. That attitude wins knockout games.

Madhya Pradesh shocked everyone in 2021–22 by beating Mumbai in the final.

A team without much history taking down the most successful side in tournament history?

That’s the kind of result that proves the competition’s wide open now.

Tactical View: Reading Finals Strategy

Finals in the Ranji Trophy require different thinking than league matches.

Teams can’t just play freely because a draw might still win the trophy based on a first-innings lead. That changes everything tactically.

The pressure’s heaviest on days one and two. Teams need to bat big or bowl the opposition out cheap.

If you’re trailing by 120 after the first innings, you’re playing catch-up even if you bat well in the second innings. The psychological edge flips to the other side.

Smart captains use this rule to their advantage. They’ll push for runs on day three even when tired, knowing a bigger lead gives breathing room on day four.

Bowlers attack more when defending a first-innings lead because they can afford to go for runs. The tactical layers make finals fascinating to watch.

Current Structure And Format

Teams play in groups during the league phase. The Elite divisions are split into multiple groups based on strength and geography.

Top performers from each group move into the knockout rounds. It keeps matches competitive and reduces mismatches.

The Plate group operates differently. Teams there play fewer matches but compete for a chance to move up to Elite status.

It’s a development pathway that gives smaller cricket associations room to grow and improve over time.

Knockouts follow the standard format with quarter-finals, semis, and a final. Every match lasts four days, which is proper first-class cricket.

No shortcuts or modified rules. Just red-ball cricket played the way it’s meant to be.

Where India’s Stars Learned Their Craft?

Every major Indian cricketer has gone through the Ranji Trophy system. Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Kohli – they all cut their teeth here before representing India.

The tournament’s track record as a talent factory is unmatched.

What makes it work is the variety of challenges. Playing on a turning track in Chennai teaches different skills than batting on a flat deck in Mumbai or facing swing in Delhi.

Players who succeed across conditions prove they can handle anything.

Recent call-ups like Sarfaraz Khan and Yashasvi Jaiswal followed the same path. Big runs in domestic cricket earned them chances with India.

The system still works even with T20 leagues pulling focus and money elsewhere.

Standout Moments Through The Years

Some moments stick in memory forever. In 2023–24, Mumbai’s tail-enders Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande both scored centuries batting at 10 and 11.

That had never happened in first-class cricket anywhere. The match against Baroda became instant history.

The Holkar-Baroda rivalry in the late 1940s produced incredible finals. Between 1945 and 1950, they met four straight times.

The matches swung back and forth with different winners each year. Fans waited all season to see them clash again.

Bengal’s 1989–90 title broke a 51-year drought. They hadn’t won since 1938–39, which meant generations of Bengal fans had never seen their team lift the trophy.

When it finally happened, the celebrations were massive.

FAQs

• Who has the most Ranji Trophy titles?

Mumbai leads with 42 Ranji Trophy championships, far ahead of any other team in the tournament’s history.

• Which team won the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy?

Vidarbha won the 2024–25 title by defeating Kerala based on a first-innings lead after the final ended in a draw.

• When was the first Ranji Trophy played?

The inaugural Ranji Trophy season was 1934–35, with Bombay beating Northern India in the final.

• How is a drawn Ranji Trophy final decided?

When the match ends in a draw, the team with the higher first-innings score is declared the champion.

• Which teams have won recently?

Recent Ranji Trophy winners include Vidarbha (2024–25), Mumbai (2023–24), Saurashtra (2022–23), Madhya Pradesh (2021–22), and Saurashtra again (2019–20).

The Trophy That Still Matters Most

The Ranji Trophy continues to hold its place at the center of Indian domestic cricket.

Mumbai’s historic success and the recent rise of teams like Vidarbha show how the tournament keeps producing compelling stories season after season.

Vidarbha’s 2024–25 win proved that preparation and execution under pressure still decide championships.

The drawn final against Kerala could have gone either way, but their first-innings discipline made the difference.

That’s the kind of cricket that builds careers and reputations.

Right now, the 2025–26 season is creating new chapters. Players are fighting for recognition, and teams are chasing glory that’s eluded them for years.

The Ranji Trophy winners list will add another name soon, continuing a tradition that’s lasted 90 years and shows no signs of slowing down.

Also Check:

• BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award Winners List
• List of Award Winners At The BCCI Naman Awards 2026
• ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Winners List
• ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Winners List

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