The Ranji Trophy for the upcoming domestic season will have two winners — one from the elite group and the other from the plate group. In the upcoming edition of the Ranji, which begins on December 13, the topper from the plate group will not be crossing over to play an elite team for a pre-quarter final clash as it used to be earlier.

According to the schedule announced by BCCI on Monday, the plate group will comprise six teams out of which the top four will qualify for the semi-finals. The two teams playing in the plate final will then join the elites in the next edition of the tournament, that is in 2023-24.

The elite group, on the other hand, comprises four groups with eight teams in each of them and the games are to be held on a home and away basis. The top two sides from each group will directly make the quarter finals.

The bottom two teams from all the four elite groups combined, based on points/quotient, will be relegated to plate level. The change in format has been made to avoid mismatches in the knockout stage of the competition and make it more competitive. Bengal, semi-finalists last season, are placed in Group A of the Ranji Trophy along with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Baroda, Odisha and Nagaland. The season begins with the September 8-25 Duleep Trophy followed by the Irani Cup from October 1-5. Thereafter, there’s the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy from October 11-November 5.