TN qualifies for the knockouts in the Ranji Trophy after six seasons, while Thakur takes ten wickets for Mumbai

The highlights from the final round of the Ranji Trophy season are as follows

Out of the 32 teams, only eight are left as the final round of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy has decided the knockout format.

First knockout appearance for TN in six seasons

Tamil Nadu started the season with a heavy defeat away to Gujarat. Their chances of securing full points against Tripura were ruined by the weather. Since then, however, they have been unstoppable. They have won four of their remaining five matches to top Group B with nine points.

Although Tamil Nadu's latest win against Punjab was not enough to secure the top spot, Karnataka's loss to Chandigarh in their final group fixture allowed Tamil Nadu to advance to the knockout stage. Since the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy, where they lost to Mumbai in the semi-finals, this will be Tamil Nadu's first knockout appearance.

Tamil Nadu secured their fourth win with ease, thanks to B Indrajith and Vijay Shankar's centuries in the first innings, which led to a massive score of 435. The left-arm spinning duo of S Ajith Ram and Sai Kishore picked up 15 wickets between them, setting up an easy target of 71 runs for Tamil Nadu to chase down in just seven overs.

Punjab's Nehal Wadhera fought hard in the second innings, scoring a quickfire 107-ball 109, but it was not enough to save his team from a forgettable batting display. Their season of promise, which included winning the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, ended with only one victory, leaving them in sixth place in the group.

Tiwary and Fazal, both veterans, retire

He came out of retirement to pursue his long-standing dream of winning the coveted Ranji Trophy title, after previously announcing his decision to walk away from all forms of cricket at the end of the 2022-23 season. His decision seemed justified, as Bengal had come close to victory twice in the last three years (2019-20 and 2022-23), only to be beaten by Saurashtra. But there was no fairytale ending for Manoj Tiwary, one of Indian cricket's great warhorses, as Bengal finished a disappointing third in Group B behind eventual qualifiers Mumbai and Andhra.

Bengal may have felt they lost out on seven points due to severe weather affecting two of their seven games. They signed off on a high note by handing Bihar a defeat by an innings and 204 runs. Fast bowler Mukesh Kumar picked up six wickets.

Tiwary, Bengal's captain throughout the season, scored 30 runs in his final innings to end a first-class career that saw him amass 10,195 runs in 148 matches with 30 centuries and an impressive average of 47.86. The Cricket Association of Bengal felicitated him fittingly in a ceremony on Sunday evening at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Unlike Tiwary, Faiz Fazal also has two Ranji Trophy crowns to his name, having led Vidarbha to back-to-back titles in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Although his last innings in first-class cricket ended with a first-ball duck on Sunday, Vidarbha still managed to secure a 115-run win over Haryana in a winner-takes-all contest in Nagpur. Fazal finishes with 9184 runs in 138 first-class matches, including 24 centuries, at an average of 41.

Vidarbha's victory secured their position at the top of Group A, with defending champions Saurashtra finishing a close second. Saurashtra won convincingly against Manipur in Rajkot, with Cheteshwar Pujara scoring his third hundred of the season and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, the left-arm spinner, taking his second consecutive ten-wicket haul.

Thakur is back in business and Mumbai is on the move again

Shardul Thakur's match haul of 10 for 52 helped Mumbai secure their fifth win of the season. Assam were defeated within two days, lasting only 65.1 overs in both innings combined. Since the Centurion Test in December, this was only Thakur's second first-class appearance. In addition to Thakur's performance, Shivam Dube had a sensational 2024, hitting a counter-attacking unbeaten 121 that lifted Mumbai from a previous 110 for 5 in the first innings. Dube's second first-class hundred of the season.

High finish for Delhi

Three senior players left the team feeling annoyed and hurt due to the dysfunctional system of DDCA. The head of the selection committee resigned after two matches due to a poor start and Yash Dhull, their young captain, was sacked after one match. The threat of relegation loomed halfway through the season. Despite all the off-field issues, Delhi managed to perform well in the latter half of the season, winning three out of their last four games and finishing third in the pool.

Delhi won the final round against Odisha, with Dhull's first-innings 112 leading the way. This was his fifth first-class century, which helped to open up a slender 11-run lead. In the second innings, Odisha collapsed for 133, leaving Delhi with a target of 123. Delhi won by seven wickets, with Ayush Badoni and Dhull seeing them home.

Railways achieve record profit

Railways achieved the highest successful chase in Ranji history to end their campaign on a high note. The victory was particularly noteworthy because they had conceded a first-innings lead to Tripura, which had seemed insurmountable at the time.

Railways were dismissed for 105 in response to Tripura's 149, and then found themselves facing a daunting target of 378 runs to win. At 31 for 3, Railways were in dire straits, but Mohammad Saif and Pratham Singh revived the chase with a fourth-wicket partnership of 175.

Saif was dismissed for 106, but Pratham remained unbeaten on 169. Captain Upendra Yadav helped build the winning partnership as he scored 27 not out.

Railways achieved a sensational victory, surpassing Saurashtra's record for the previous highest chase (372 against Uttar Pradesh in 2018-19). Although the win was not enough to secure a knockout berth for Railways, it is important to note that Karnataka, TN, and Gujarat finished with more points than them in a tight table that was decided on the final day of matches.