When Round 6 ended on Dec 17, it was a note-worthy vantage point to look at India’s premier domestic competition. Tripura and Services secured bonus point wins to stir the pot in the plate group and then Saurashtra’s win over Maharashtra put them on 25 points to make the qualification scenario for the Elite Group A and B, from which five teams will combinedly qualify for the knock-outs, a fascinating affair. More than that, after a long time, as many as 10 teams were in the contention from the first two groups until the last round - something that kept Ranji Trophy's excitement going. Now, as the eighth round is starting tomorrow, we look at various permutations and combinations crucial for team's chances to find a berth in the top eight of the league.

Vidarbha: 

Karnataka: 

With one point behind table-toppers Vidarbha, eight-time Ranji champions Karnataka’s situation is pretty much similar as Vidarbha. If their new captain Manish Pandey can lead them to an outright win or a three-point draw against Baroda, they will secure a berth in the QFs. If either of Bengal or Himachal fail in their pursuit of securing out-right wins, then Karnataka will go through even by securing only one point. On the other hand, Bengal, Himachal, and Madhya Pradesh’s victory will put Karnataka at a spot of bother who will otherwise pray Saurashtra to secure less than three points against Vidarbha. 

Although the 2016-17 champions find themselves at the third place on the table, their case is a more precarious one as they have already played all their league games by the last round. With 26 points, they are levelled with Saurashtra, two points higher than Madhya Pradesh, four points more than Himachal Pradesh and Bengal, six points more than other three teams in contention - Punjab, Baroda, and Kerala. So, potentially three teams in the form of MP, HP, and Saurashtra, and Bengal can go above them, Baroda and Punjab can secure exact same points. So, Gujarat players will have to wait and scroll through the proceedings of the other matches.

Saurashtra

Madhya Pradesh

Same goes for Madhya Pradesh as far as winning is concerned. If they can beat Andhra Pradesh outright, they will directly secure a place in the top eight. However, a three-point lead will see them through if Bengal or HP fail to secure an outright win. Even though Bengal and HP win outright, and Saurashtra will need Baroda not to win with a bonus point and Saurashtra shouldn’t secure anything more than one point as well. Any result other than these two - win or a one-point draw - will mean MP need to be reliant on other results to go their way. Naman Ojha-led outfit will want all the teams below them in the qualification race to end in a draw with Himachal failing to gain the first innings lead in their game against Kerala.

Although an outright win might well prove to be enough, HP will seek a bonus point win to confirm their qualification and not being dependent on other results to go their way. A draw with three points can still help them qualify, but a lot of permutation and combination will come on their way. In that case, Himachal will want Andhra to beat Madhya Pradesh, Punjab to beat Bengal, and Baroda to topple Karnataka. On a slightly flexible note, Himachal can afford to see MP gain one point, but have lower NRR, while wanting the other two matches to end in a draw with Punjab restricting Bengal from taking the first-innings lead.

Bengal

Kerala

Kerala, with 20 points, are at a very precarious stage in the tournament as they will have to be reliant on other results even though they can secure a bonus point victory. A bonus point win will take the team to 27 points, which means they will want Karnataka to take first innings lead against Baroda. It will give them a chance as NRR will come into effect.

Their chance of qualifying for the knock-outs is as less as Australia’s chances of winning the Sydney Test. Although they have 20 points, exactly same points as Kerala and Bengal, they have one lesser number of outright victories, which may haunt them. For consolation though they have to put their best foot forward and secure an innings or 10-wicket victory.

Elite Group C threw an interesting dynamics after Tripura pulled off a miraculous draw against Jharkhand in their last encounter which means the latter now have to fight it out to join Rajasthan in the quarter-final as the second team from the Group C. With one spot remaining to be filled from the group, Uttar Pradesh are only other team who have a chance to dethrone Jharkhand and seal a place in the final 8 of the tournament. While Uttar Pradesh, with 38 points, are playing against Assam, Jharkhand, with 33 points, will take on Jammu and Kashmir in their last round encounter. 

If Uttar Pradeshmanage to secure an outright win or even secure a three-point lead against Assam, then Jharkhand will bow out of the Ranji Trophy, no matter their result against Jammu & Kashmir. Because a three-point lead will help UP gain a total of 41 points and in that scenario, even if Jharkhand secure a bonus-point win, they can only go to 40 and will remain one point shy of the Akshdeep Nath-led team. 

Plate Group

Uttarakhand

Now, Uttarakhand are topping the tables with 37 points with a match to go against bottom-placed Mizoram at home in Dehradun. While an outright win will see them through irrespective of other results, a three-point draw can help them be in the last eight if and only if Bihar fail to secure an outright win by themselves. On the other hand, they will want Bihar and Puducherry to not get outright wins, lest Mizoram get the better of them, which is highly unlikely.

With one match to go against Manipur, Bihar can secure a place in the QFs, but that depends on the result of Uttarakhand-Mizoram match. If Bihar secure an outright win and Uttarakhand fail to secure a win, then it will be a historic moment for the team which made a comeback to the Ranji Trophy after 18 years. A three-point draw can also help them if Uttarakhand lose and Puducherry fail to win their last encounter. 

Puducherry