Reigning champions Mumbai will take on Baroda at the Wankhede stadium while Delhi play Uttar Pradesh at home in first round Ranji Trophy (Elite) cricket four-day league openers from November 7-10.
Eight teams in Group A and seven teams in Group B will vie for honours in the Elite group while six teams from two groups will fight it out in the Plate group, scheduled to be played between November 23-26, according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India's domestic calender released in Mumbai on Friday.
The Deodhar Trophy one-day tournament for zonal teams will be played at different venues in East Zone from January 15 to 31, 2004, while the Ranji Trophy limited-overs tournament (one team from each zone) will also be held in East Zone, between February 5 and 11.
The four-day Duleep Trophy (inter-zonal) league cum knock-out tournament will be held at different venues in North Zone from February 14 to March 9 while the Challenger Series for the N K P Salve Trophy (from September 10 to 14) and the five-day Irani Trophy (from September 18 to 22) tie between Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai and the Rest of India will be held at Bangalore and Chennai respectively.
Following is the calendar:
Challenger Trophy (to be played in Bangalore):
Sept 10: India Seniors vs India A.
Sept 11: India Senior vs India B.
Sept 13: India A vs India B.
Sept 14: Final
Sept 18-22: Irani Trophy match - Ranji champions Mumbai vs Rest of India, Chennai.
Ranji Trophy four-day league ties (1st round Group A):
Nov 7-10: Mumbai vs Baroda, in Mumbai; Andhra vs Railways, in Delhi; Kerala vs Punjab, in Kerala; Delhi vs UP, in Delhi.
Group B: TN vs Karnataka, in Bangalore; Bengal vs Rajasthan, in Jaipur; Gujarat vs Hyderabad, in Ahmedabad.
Nov 15-18 (2nd round Group A): Mumbai vs Delhi, in Delhi; Baroda vs Andhra, in Vadodara; Railways vs Kerala, in Kerala; Punjab vs UP, in Kanpur.
Group B: TN vs Rajasthan, in Jaipur; Karnataka vs Bengal, in Bangalore; Assam vs Gujarat, in Guwahati.
Nov 23-26 (3rd round Group-B): TN vs Bengal, in Chennai; Karnataka vs Rajasthan, in Jaipur; Hyderabad vs Assam, in Guwahati.
Group A: Mumbai vs UP in Kanpur; Baroda vs Punjab, in Vadodra; Andhra vs Kerala, in Kerala; Railway vs Delhi, in Delhi.
Dec 1-4 (4th round Group A): Mumbai vs Andhra, in Andhra; Baroda vs Kerala, in Vadodara; Railways vs UP, in Kanpur; Punjab vs Delhi, in Punjab.
Group B: TN vs Gujarat, in Ahmedabad; Karnataka vs Hyderabad, in Hyderabad; Bengal vs Assam, in Kolkata.
Dec 9-12 (5th round Group B): TN vs Assam, in Chennai; Bengal vs Hyderabad, in Kolkata; Gujarat vs Rajasthan, in Rajasthan.
Group A: Mumbai vs Kerala, in Mumbai; Baroda vs Delhi, in Vadodara; Andhra vs UP, in Kanpur; Railways vs Punjab, in Delhi.
Dec 17-20 (6th round Group A): Mumbai vs Railways, in Mumbai; Baroda vs UP, in Vadodara; Andhra vs Punjab, in Punjab; Kerala vs Delhi, in Delhi.
Group B: TN vs Hyderabad, in Hyderabad; Karnataka vs Gujarat, in Ahmedabad; Rajasthan vs Assam, in Guwahati.
Dec 25-28 (7th round Group-B): Karnataka vs Assam, in Bangalore; Bengal vs Gujarat, in Ahmedabad; Rajasthan vs Hyderabad, in Hyderabad.
Group A: Mumbai vs Punjab, in Punjab; Baroda vs Railway, in Vadodara; Andhra vs Delhi, in Andhra; Kerala vs UP, in Kerala.
Nov 23-26 (Plate 1st round Group A): Tripura vs Vidarbha, in Tripura; Madhya Pradesh (MP) vs Bihar, in Jamshedpur; Jammu and Kashmir vs Haryana.
Group B: Saurashtra vs Maharashtra, in Rajkot; Himachal Pradesh vs Sevices, at a Services venue; Goa vs Orissa, in Cuttack.
Dec 1-4 (2nd round Group A): Tripura vs Haryana; Vidarbha vs MP; Bihar vs J & K.
Group B: Saurashtra vs HP, Services vs Goa, in Goa, Orissa vs Maharashtra.
Dec 9-12 (3rd round Group A): Tripura vs J & K, in J & K; Vidarbha vs Bihar, in Nagpur; MP vs Haryana, in MP.
Group B: Saurashtra vs Services, at SSCB venue; HP vs Orissa, in Cuttack; Goa vs Maharashtra, in Pune.
Dec 17-20 (4th round Group A): Tripura vs MP, in Indore; J & K vs Vidarbha, in Nagpur; Bihar vs Haryana, in Jamshedpur.
Group B: Saurashtra vs Orissa, in Cuttack; HP vs Goa, in HP; Services vs Maharashtra, in Pune.
Dec 25-28 (5th round Group A): Tripura vs Bihar, in Jamshedpur; Vidarbha vs Haryana, in Haryana; MP vs J & K, in J & K.
Group B: Goa vs Saurashtra, in Goa; HP vs Maharashtra, in Pune; Services vs Orissa, at SSCB venue.
