The Ranji Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between different city and state sides, equivalent to the County Championship in England and the Sheffield Shield in Australia. The competition is named after Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji (Jam Sahib of Nawanagar, also known as "Ranji").

The competition was launched as "The Cricket Championship of India" following a meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in July 1934, with the first fixtures taking place in 1934–35. The trophy was donated by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. The first Ranji Trophy Championship was won by Bombay after they defeated North India in the final. Syed Mohammed Hadi of Hyderabad was the first batsman to score a hundred.

Mumbai (formerly Bombay) have been the dominant team in the Championship so far, with 39 wins, including 15 back-to-back wins from 1958–59 to 1972–73.

Most of the teams playing in the Ranji Trophy represent states of India; there are three teams that represent individual cities (Mumbai, Baroda and Hyderabad) and two teams based in Delhi but with no regional affiliations (Railways and Services). Moreover, teams representing regions within a state also participate (Saurashtra and Vidarbha).

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar ( pronunciation (help·info); born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer widely considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the first player to score a double century in ODI cricket. In 2002, just 12 years into his career, Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Donald Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. Tendulkar was a part of the 2011 Cricket World Cup winning Indian team in the later part of his career, his first such win in six World Cup appearances for India. He is currently nominated for receiving the Bharat Ratna award.

Anshuman Jain (born 7 January 1963 in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India) is a financier of Indian descent. Deutsche Bank has appointed Anshu Jain as the co-CEO to succeed Management Board Chairman Josef Ackermann, who leaves office in May 2012.

Anshuman Jain 48, the head of Deutsche Bank's investment banking division based in London, will take over the leadership of Germany's largest bank together with his management board colleague, Jürgen Fitschen. Jain is a member of Deutsche Bank’s Management Board and, as head of the Corporate and Investment Bank since July 2010, is globally responsible for Deutsche Bank’s corporate finance, sales and trading, and transaction banking business. As of 25 July 2011, Jürgen Fitschen and Anshu Jain, both members of the Management Board of the Bank, will be nominated as Co-Chairmen of the Board and the Group Executive Committee of the Bank effective at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting 2012.

Jain studied economics at University of Delhi's Shri Ram College of Commerce, earning a bachelor's degree with honors in 1983. He also holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Dhawal Sunil Kulkarni is an Indian first class cricketer. He is a right arm medium-pace bowler and right-handed lower order batsman. In first class cricket, he plays for Mumbai and in the Indian Premier League, he plays for Mumbai Indians. Based on his consistent performance in the domestic season and the IPL, he was selected for the Indian Test team for the away series against New Zealand in 2009. But he was not selected to play in any of the three Test matches of the series.

Ajinkya Rahane (born 5 June 1988, in a Maratha family, Maharashtra) is an Indian international cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman, who represents India in international competitions. Rahane represents Mumbai in domestic competitions and Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. He is one of the only 11 players to have scored more than 1000 runs in a single Ranji Trophy season. He has a sound technique and is versatile in his stroke making. His well timed drives, lofted shots and late cuts reinforce the orthodox style of play in which power is not the only factor in scoring quick runs.

Ajinkya Rahane is an exciting top-order batsman who bats at No. 3, and was a crucial factor in Mumbai's 38th title win. He progressed through the Mumbai ranks and has also been a part of the Indian U-19 team and the India 'A'. Ajinkya Rahane has also turned out for India Blue & Green in the Challenger Series, and West Zone in the Duleep Trophy. His wonderful Ranji season followed an impressive showing in the 2007-08 Duleep Trophy, where he scored 172 against an England Lions attack comprising Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Steve Kirby and Liam Plunkett.