The 1938–39 Ranji Trophy was the fifth edition of the Ranji Trophy, an annual first-class cricket tournament in India. Matches were played from 28 October 1938 to 21 February 1939 with a total of twenty teams participating. The Army and Delhi both returned and were included in the North Zone. The sides were divided into four zonal groups, but the tournament utilised a knockout format. Bengal won their first title defeating Southern Punjab in the final.
Teams Although the tournament ran in a knockout format, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organised the teams by zone. Delhi and the Army rejoined North Zone although the latter did not actually play a match. United Provinces (North to East) and Rajputana (East to North) exchanged zones. The twenty teams are listed alphabetically by zone and the sides that won each zonal title are in bold.
East Zone Bengal Bihar Central India (now Madhya Pradesh) United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh)
North Zone Army (now Services) Delhi Northern India North West Frontier Province Rajputana (now Rajasthan) Southern Punjab (now Punjab)
South Zone Hyderabad Madras (now Tamil Nadu) Mysore (now Karnataka)
West Zone Baroda Bombay (now Mumbai) Gujarat Maharashtra Nawanagar Sind Western India
Highlights Tom Longfield was the second non-native captain to win the Ranji Trophy, after Bert Wensley in 1936–37. Naoomal Jeoomal of Sind scored 203* against Nawanagar out of a score of only 326. In the Nawanagar v Western India match, Amar Singh became the first bowler to take 100 Ranji Trophy wickets.Nawanagar v Western India, 1938–39. CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 December 2023. This was his 14th Ranji Trophy match.
Zonal matches East Zone
North Zone
South Zone
West Zone
Inter-zonal knockout stage
Final
References