1937–38 Ranji Trophy

The 1937–38 Ranji Trophy was the fourth edition of the Ranji Trophy, an annual first-class cricket tournament in India. Matches were played from 17 October 1937 to 24 February 1938 with a total of 18 teams participating. The sides were divided into four zonal groups, but the tournament utilised a knockout format. Hyderabad defeated the defending champions Nawanagar in the final.

1937–38 Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy
Dates17 October 1937 – 24 February 1938
Administrator(s)BCCI
Cricket formatFirst-class
Tournament format(s)Knockout
ChampionsHyderabad (1st title)
Participants18
Matches18
Most runsAmar Singh (Nawanagar) (370)[1]
Most wicketsAmar Singh (Nawanagar) (24)[2]
Official websitehttp://www.bcci.tv

Teams

edit

Although the tournament ran in a knockout format, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organised the teams by zone. Delhi were absent from North Zone but Northern India returned and North West Frontier Province made their debut. South Zone was reduced to three teams after Central Provinces and Berar withdrew. West Zone had seven teams with Baroda making their debut. The eighteen teams are listed alphabetically by zone and the sides that won each zonal title are in bold.

Highlights

edit
  • Hyderabad qualified for the final after getting walkovers in the previous two rounds when their opposition failed to appear. The Ranji final was the only match they played in this season.
  • Hyderabad's feat of winning the Ranji Trophy after winning only one match is a rare feat: Maharashtra in 1940–41, Bombay in 1967–68, Hyderabad again in 1986–87 and Bengal in 1989–90 all won only one match outright when winning the title.
  • Amar Singh topped the batting and bowling aggregates for the season. He scored 370 runs and took 24 wickets in four matches.
  • Against Bombay in the decisive match in the West Zone, Amar Singh scored 140* and took 6/22 in the first innings, bowling Bombay out for 45. Against Baroda he scored 66 and took 6 wickets in the match, and against Sind 86 and 10 wickets for 61 (3/35 and 7/26).
  • Nawanagar defeated Baroda by an innings and 275 runs, Sind by an innings and 144 runs and Bombay by an innings and 130 runs before losing the final.

Zonal matches

edit

East Zone

edit
 
Round 1Round 2
 
      
 
4 Dec 1937 – Calcutta
 
 
Bengal372
 
29 Jan 1938 – Calcutta
 
Bihar99 & 107
 
Bengal110 & 217
 
17 Oct 1937– Indore
 
Central India154 & 145
 
Central India101 & 83/8
 
 
Rajputana108 & 72
 

North Zone

edit
 
Round 1Round 2
 
      
 
19 Oct 1937 – Patiala
 
 
Southern Punjab216 & 36/0
 
25 Oct 1937 – Patiala
 
North West Frontier Province165 & 85
 
Southern Punjab241 & 242
 
22 Oct 1937 – Patiala
 
Northern India281 & 149
 
Northern India173 & 180
 
 
United Provinces115 & 154
 

South Zone

edit
 
Round 1Round 2
 
      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HyderabadWalkover
 
28 Dec 1937 – Bangalore
 
Madras
 
Mysore180 & 101
 
 
Madras106 & 176/7
 

West Zone

edit
 
Round 1Round 2Round 3
 
          
 
30 Oct 1937 – Jamnagar
 
 
Nawanagar397
 
7 Nov 1937 – Jamnagar
 
Baroda37 & 85
 
Nawanagar367
 
 
Sind112 & 111
 
 
11 Jan 1938 – Jamnagar
 
 
Nawanagar289
 
24 Oct 1937 – Jamnagar
 
Bombay45 & 114
 
Western India108 & 267
 
2 Nov 1937 – Jamnagar
 
Maharashtra133 & 164
 
Western India153 & 279
 
27 Oct 1937 – Jamnagar
 
Bombay250 & 217
 
Bombay115 & 152/7
 
 
Gujarat166 & 98
 

Inter-zonal knockout matches

edit
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
HyderabadWalkover
 
22 Feb 1938 – Bombay
 
Southern Punjab
 
Hyderabad113 & 310/9
 
 
 
Nawanagar152 & 270
 
NawanagarWalkover
 
 
Bengal
 

Final

edit
22–24 February 1938
Scorecard
v
152 (54.4 overs)
Nariman Marshall 36
Hyder Ali 4/55 (22.4 overs)
113 (31.2 overs)
Mohammad Hussain 36
Shute Banerjee 4/34
270 (70.4 overs)
Albert Wensley 67
Hyder Ali 5/92 (23 overs)
310/9 (100.4 overs)
Edulji Aibara 137*
Mubarak Ali 3/48 (21 overs)
Hyderabad won by 1 wicket
Brabourne Stadium, Bombay
Umpires: Dattatraya Naik and Vali Ahmed
  • Nawanagar won the toss and elected to bat.
  • The match was played in a neutral ground.
  • Nariman Marshall and Amar Singh (both Nawanagar) passed 1,000 and 3,000 runs respectively in first-class cricket.[3]
  • Edulji Aibara's (Hyderabad) 137 was the highest individual score in a successful chase in a Ranji Trophy final before it was surpassed by Parthiv Patel (143) in 2016–17.[4]
  • Hyderabad's 310 was the highest fourth innings total to win a Ranji final before it was surpassed by Gujarat's 312 in 2016–17.[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Most runs". Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  2. ^ "Most wickets". Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Ranji Trophy 1937/38 (Final)". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Ranji Trophy 2016/17, stats review: From Gujarat's highest successful chase in final to Rishab Pant's triple ton – Firstpost". Firstpost. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Stats: Priyank Panchal's season of reckoning". Cricbuzz. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
edit