Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | Gujarat to take on Goa in Valsad; J&K-Karnataka venue yet to be confirmed
Gujarat, who finished as the table-toppers in Elite Group A and B, will take on Plate toppers Goa in Valsad while Odisha will take on archrival Bengal in Cuttack. Saurashtra are slated to take on Andhra in the third QF in Ongole but the venue for Karnataka and J&K has not been confirmed.
It is 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 in the Ranji Quarter-finals as the league phase of the BCCI's premier domestic competition has come to an end. While Gujarat, who ended as the table-toppers in the Elite Group A and B will play Plate Toppers Goa, who thrashed Mizoram by an innings and 211 runs, at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium in Valsad, Odisha will take on Bengal at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. A senior member of the BCCI Tours and Fixtures commitee revealed exclusively to SportsCafe the development, with the confirmation likely to be announced in the evening.
The third Quarter-final match between Saurashtra and Andhra Pradesh will be played at the CSR Sharma College Ground in Ongole while the discussion is still on about the venue for the other game - Jammu and Kashmir and Karnataka - which is going to be a star-studded encounter, with Manish Pandey and KL Rahul set to return to the Karnataka side.
As per the BCCI rules, it will be the team who had hosted the last encounter between both the teams that will have to travel and accordingly, the three encounters have been finalised. In accordance to that, Jammu should be the host this time considering Karnataka hosted the North Indian team in Hubli the last time they locked horns against each other. But the prevailing weather situation in Jammu, where Haryana beat J & K in the last round, is the major point of concern, as is the political situation in the valley.
While we are awaiting the confirmation, the Quarter-Finals will start on February 20, with three of the four games being Telecasted/webcasted on Star Sports platforms.
