The Ranji Trophy Plate Group is back for the 2026-27 domestic season, giving India's smaller cricketing states a platform to compete for a shot at Elite-level promotion. While the Elite groups tend to grab the bigger headlines, the Plate Group has its own tight, competitive battles worth following — especially for bettors looking beyond the usual IPL 2026 buzz. Here's a complete rundown of the Ranji Trophy Plate 2026-27 season, how the format works, which teams are involved, and how to follow the action on Reddy Anna.

What is the Ranji Trophy Plate Group?

The Ranji Trophy is India's premier first-class cricket championship, run by the BCCI and contested since 1934-35, making it one of the oldest domestic competitions in world cricket. Over the decades, the tournament has grown from a modest inter-regional contest into a full-fledged season featuring dozens of state and regional associations, each competing for a place in Indian cricket's most storied domestic honour.

As the number of participating teams expanded, the BCCI restructured the competition into multiple groups to keep the format manageable and competitive. Today, the tournament is split into four Elite groups and a separate Plate Group made up of newer or historically smaller cricketing units — associations that don't yet have the squad depth or recent results to compete in the Elite tier, but are working to establish themselves at that level.

Teams in the Plate Group play a round-robin format before moving into knockouts, with the Plate champion earning promotion to the Elite groups for the following season. In turn, the weakest-performing teams from the combined Elite groups are typically relegated down to the Plate Group, keeping a steady flow of movement between tiers from one season to the next.

This structure gives smaller associations a genuine pathway into top-flight domestic cricket. For associations like Mizoram, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Manipur — many of which represent India's northeastern states — the Plate Group has become an important proving ground, giving local players first-class exposure that simply wasn't available a couple of decades ago.

Ranji Trophy Plate 2026-27 Schedule

According to the BCCI's 2026-27 domestic season schedule, the Ranji Trophy Plate Group runs in two phases, mirroring the broader structure used across the Elite groups as well:

• Phase 1: 11 October 2026 to 5 November 2026
• Phase 2: 17 January 2027 to 20 January 2027
• Knockouts: 24 January 2027 to 28 January 2027

This runs alongside the Ranji Trophy Elite groups, which follow a similar two-phase league structure — Phase 1 from 11 October 2026 to 5 November 2026, and Phase 2 from 17 January 2027 to 4 February 2027 — before their own knockout stage runs from 9 February 2027 through 3 March 2027. Running the Plate Group's knockouts slightly ahead of the Elite knockouts allows the BCCI to confirm the promoted team before the following domestic cycle begins to take shape.

Phase 1 fixtures have already given an early look at how the group is shaping up. Early-season matchups have included Mizoram versus Manipur, Sikkim versus Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh versus Nagaland, setting the tone for what's expected to be a tightly contested race heading into the January window and the knockout stage that follows.

Because the Plate Group is smaller than the Elite groups, the schedule tends to be more compact, but the stakes are no lower. Every league match matters when only a handful of teams are competing for a single promotion spot.

Format and Points System

Like the Elite groups, the Plate Group follows a round-robin format where every team plays each other once during the league phase. Results are decided using the standard first-class points system used across the Ranji Trophy:

• Win: 6 points
• Tie: 3 points
• Draw with first-innings lead: 3 points
• Draw with first-innings deficit or unfinished first innings: 1 point
• No result: 1 point
• Bonus point: 1 additional point for winning by an innings or by 10 wickets
• Loss: 0 points

This points structure rewards teams for pushing hard toward an outright win rather than settling for a draw, since a draw with a first-innings lead still earns fewer points than an outright victory. In a shorter group like the Plate, where every team faces a limited number of opponents, these bonus points can end up being the difference between finishing top of the table and missing out on the knockouts entirely.

Once the league phase wraps up, the top teams in the standings move into the knockout stage, which typically includes semi-finals and a final to decide the Plate champion. Depending on the exact number of participating teams in a given season, the format may also include additional playoff matches to decide lower-table positions, similar to how recent seasons have handled placement matches between teams that don't advance to the semi-finals. The winning team of the Plate final earns promotion to the Elite groups for the following Ranji season, making every league match in the Plate Group carry real weight beyond just the current campaign.

A Look Back at Recent Plate Group Winners

The Plate Group has produced some tight promotion races in recent seasons, and looking back at recent champions helps illustrate just how competitive the group has become.

Goa won the 2024-25 Plate title, beating Nagaland in the final after a competitive knockout stage that also saw strong performances from Manipur and Kerala along the way. Goa's campaign that season was built around consistent batting performances, with the team's leading run-scorer finishing close to a thousand runs across the competition, while Nagaland's bowling attack — led by a standout spinner who claimed over 40 wickets — kept them competitive throughout the knockouts.

The following season, the Plate Group picture shifted again, with Bihar and Meghalaya among the teams competing for a promotion spot, showing how quickly the competitive landscape can change from one year to the next as teams move between Elite and Plate status based on the previous season's results. This turnover is a defining feature of the Plate Group — a team that finishes at the bottom of an Elite group one season can find itself competing in the Plate Group the very next year, while a strong Plate campaign can fast-track a team straight back into the Elite mix.

This constant movement between tiers is part of what keeps the Plate Group compelling. Unlike the Elite groups, where the same handful of traditionally strong states tend to dominate season after season, the Plate Group sees genuine shifts in fortune, with different teams rising to the top depending on how their squads have developed and which players have stepped up during a given campaign.

Why the Plate Group Is Worth Following

Domestic first-class cricket doesn't always get the same spotlight as IPL 2026 or international fixtures, but the Ranji Trophy Plate Group offers something different: longer format matches, genuine promotion stakes, and a chance to watch emerging players from smaller cricketing regions make their mark. Several players who go on to feature in bigger tournaments first build their reputations in matches just like these, using strong Plate Group seasons as a springboard toward state call-ups in the Elite groups.

For those following domestic cricket closely, the Plate Group also tends to produce closer, more unpredictable results than some Elite fixtures, since the gap in squad depth between Plate teams is often smaller than in the top-tier groups. While Elite groups can sometimes be dominated by one or two traditionally strong sides across an entire season, Plate Group tables often stay tight right up until the final round of league matches.

There's also a broader storyline worth following: which of the current Plate teams look best placed to finally break into the Elite groups, and which recently relegated Elite teams are fighting to bounce straight back up.

Following Ranji Trophy Plate Matches on Reddy Anna

To follow live updates, scores, and markets around Ranji Trophy Plate 2026-27 fixtures, you'll need an active Reddy Anna ID. This single ID unlocks access to domestic cricket coverage alongside the platform's other major markets, including IPL 2026 and FIFA World Cup 2026, so there's no need to manage separate accounts for different competitions.

If you're new to the platform, the Reddy Anna sign-up page takes just a few minutes to complete. After registering, you can move directly to verifying your Reddy Anna ID and browsing the domestic cricket section, where fixtures for both the Elite and Plate groups are typically listed alongside their respective schedules.

Returning users can head straight to the Reddy Anna login page to check live odds and match schedules for ongoing Plate Group fixtures. Since domestic matches run over multiple days, odds and match situations can shift significantly session by session, so checking in regularly is worth it if you're following a specific team's promotion push through Phase 1 and into the January window.

Betting on Domestic Cricket: A Few Things to Keep in Mind

Domestic first-class matches differ from limited-overs cricket in a few important ways worth keeping in mind before placing a bet on any Ranji Trophy Plate fixture:

• Matches run over multiple days, meaning momentum can shift significantly between sessions, especially with weather and pitch conditions changing as a match progresses.
• Squad depth varies more between Plate teams than in bigger tournaments, so recent form and player availability matter more than reputation alone.
• Draws are a common outcome in first-class cricket, unlike T20 formats, which changes how markets around match results are typically priced.
• Pitch conditions vary significantly by venue, and can differ quite a bit in terms of how much they favour batters or bowlers.
• Toss decisions can matter more in longer-format cricket than in T20 games, since the option to bat or bowl first can shape the entire complexion of a multi-day match.

Taking a bit of extra time to look at recent form, venue history, and squad news before placing a bet on a Plate Group fixture can go a long way compared to betting purely on reputation or league position alone.

Staying Updated on the Go

For bettors who want to track scores and odds throughout a multi-day Plate Group match without needing to check a browser constantly, the Reddy Anna app offers live updates and alerts, making it easier to follow session-by-session progress from your phone. This is particularly useful for Ranji Trophy matches, where play unfolds slowly across several days and checking in periodically — rather than watching continuously — is the more realistic way most fans and bettors follow the format.

The app's alert system can also help you stay on top of when a match moves into a potentially decisive final session, letting you catch key moments without needing to track the scorecard manually throughout the day.

Conclusion

The Ranji Trophy Plate 2026-27 season offers a genuine promotion battle among India's smaller cricketing states, running in two phases from October 2026 through the January 2027 knockouts. With teams like Mizoram, Manipur, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland already in action during Phase 1, the race for the single Elite promotion spot is likely to stay competitive right up to the final league round and into the knockout stage. Whether you're following a specific team's push toward Elite status or simply enjoy domestic first-class cricket for its own sake, Reddy Anna offers a straightforward way to follow scores, odds, and match updates throughout the Plate Group season, right alongside the platform's coverage of IPL 2026 and FIFA World Cup 2026.