Ranji Trophy Winners List: Champions From the First Season

Bombay won the first Ranji Trophy in 1934–35, and Jammu and Kashmir won the latest completed edition in 2025–26. Between those campaigns, the championship has moved from its early regional structure to a much larger national field. Mumbai, formerly Bombay, remain the title leaders with 42 championships.

Jammu and Kashmir's first title added a new name to that history. Their final against Karnataka ended in a draw, but a 291-run first-innings lead secured the championship. A winners list records the title winner, not necessarily an outright match winner.

Complete Season-by-Season Winners List

Historical names are retained. Bombay's titles count toward Mumbai's total, and Madras is the earlier name used for Tamil Nadu. Holkar, Nawanagar and Western India need historical context; merging them into present-day teams without an explicit convention can produce different totals.

The Recent Championship Pattern

The last five completed seasons produced five different champions: Madhya Pradesh, Saurashtra, Mumbai, Vidarbha and Jammu and Kashmir. That run shows how widely the title has travelled in recent years, even while Mumbai's long-term record remains unmatched.

The 2020–21 season was not held because of the pandemic. It should appear as a gap, not as a championship awarded to the previous winner.

Mumbai's Championship Run and the Teams That Broke Through

Bombay's most dominant sequence ran from 1958–59 to 1972–73, producing 15 consecutive titles. That period accounts for a substantial part of Mumbai's overall advantage, but it should not obscure the later expansion of the winners list.

Karnataka won in 1973–74 after ending Bombay's run in the semi-final. Haryana's 1990–91 title and Punjab's 1992–93 championship later added winners from the north, while Railways won in 2001–02 and again in 2004–05. Those seasons show how the championship moved beyond its most familiar historical centres.

Rajasthan's consecutive titles in 2010–11 and 2011–12 are another distinctive achievement. Winning once establishes a breakthrough; defending the trophy requires a side to repeat its work across a fresh campaign, against opponents who already know its strengths.

The Recent Finals Behind the Winners List

Karnataka retained the trophy in 2014–15 with an innings-and-217-run victory over Tamil Nadu. Karun Nair's 328 helped build a total of 762, giving that championship a place in the individual records as well as the team honours list.

Gujarat's first title in 2016–17 arrived through a different kind of final. They chased 312 against Mumbai, with captain Parthiv Patel making 143 in the fourth innings. A successful chase under title pressure creates a very different scorecard from a victory built on one overwhelming first innings.

Vidarbha then won consecutive championships in 2017–18 and 2018–19, before adding a third in 2024–25. Their three titles belong to separate campaigns; a table should not confuse consecutive final appearances with consecutive championship wins.

Why Some Finals Are Listed as Draws

A final can end without an outright match winner while still deciding the championship through first-innings lead. That is how Jammu and Kashmir took the 2025–26 title after making 584 and dismissing Karnataka for 293.

The correct record therefore contains two facts: the match was drawn, and J&K became champions. Replacing that wording with a runs margin would invent an outright result that never occurred. Similarly, an old winners table should not be rejected merely because the corresponding scorecard says “drawn.”

Championships Beyond the Most Familiar Teams

Baroda's five main titles came in 1942–43, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1957–58 and 2000–01. That sequence spans several generations, illustrating why an association's total should be accompanied by its winning seasons. A reader looking only at recent finals could miss much of that history.

Hyderabad's championships came in 1937–38 and 1986–87. Maharashtra won consecutive editions in 1939–40 and 1940–41, while Tamil Nadu's two-title count includes the earlier Madras name. These examples also explain why modern state geography is not a reliable way to combine honours: Hyderabad and Andhra are separate cricket associations, just as Mumbai and Maharashtra are separate teams.

Uttar Pradesh's 2005–06 title, Gujarat's 2016–17 breakthrough and Madhya Pradesh's 2021–22 championship added further distinct winners. Each belongs to the main season list, regardless of whether the final ended outright or the trophy was decided through the relevant rules after a draw.

The table should be read as a historical record of champions, rather than a ranking of current strength. A team with a single title can enter a new season with a strong squad, while a multiple champion can experience a difficult campaign. Past trophies remain fixed achievements; the next tournament begins with new fixtures and results.

Where an edition was not held, retain that entry explicitly. The absence of a 2020–21 champion is part of the chronology, not a missing winner to be inferred from the preceding or following season.