It defeated Vidharbha cricket team in the final at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

[9][5] The idea of a national level, first class championship tournament was proposed by BCCI's founder A.S. De Mello.

[7] The competition was launched following BCCI's meeting at Shimla in July 1934,[10] with the first fixtures taking place in 1934–35 .Initially the tournament was named as 'The cricket championship of India', it later was renamed.

[7] The trophy was donated by Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala in memory of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, Jam Sahib of Nawanagar who had died the previous year.

[13][14] State and regional teams with first-class status and owned–operated by BCCI members play in the Ranji Trophy.

The following 38 teams currently participate in the Ranji Trophy: The following teams have appeared in the Ranji Trophy, but no longer do so, partly because Indian states have merged and created over the years: From the Ranji Trophy's inception until the 2001 season (with the exception of 1948–49 season), the teams were grouped geographically into four or five zones – North, West, East, and South, with Central added in 1952–53.

The team which finished last in each Elite sub-group was relegated, and both Plate Group finalists were promoted for the following season.

Throughout its history, if there is no outright result in a Ranji Trophy knock-out match, the team leading after the first innings is the winner.

Prior to the 2016–17 season, matches were played at the home ground of one of the two teams taking part.

Sports18 TV channel and JioCinema has exclusive rights to broadcast the trophy live on television and online respectively.