Calcutta: Bengal will start their Ranji Trophy campaign against defending champions Rajasthan at Eden Gardens from November 2. They will then travel to Mohali next week to play their first away match against Punjab.

Under the new format, the Ranji Trophy will have three groups. Three teams from Groups A and B and two teams from Group C will qualify for the knockout stage. Bengal have been placed in Group A. Mumbai, Gujarat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Hyderabad, Saurashtra and Railways are the other teams in the group.

Prior to the Ranji Trophy, Bengal will participate in the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy. Incidentally, this will be the first time that the Vijay Hazare Trophy champions will participate in the Challenger Trophy.

Meanwhile, the CAB will organise a special programme to honour the 1989-90 Ranji Trophy winning team in order to inspire the present generation of players at its annual awards function on Sunday.

BENGAL’S RANJI FIXTURES

Nov 2-5: Vs Rajasthan (Calcutta); Nov 9-12: Vs Punjab (Mohali); Nov 17-20: Vs Gujarat (Calcutta); Nov 24-27: Vs MP (Indore); Dec 1-4: Vs Mumbai (Mumbai); Dec 8-11: Vs Saurashtra (Rajkot); Dec 15-18: Vs Hyderabad (Calcutta); Dec 29-Jan 1: Vs Railways (Calcutta)