BCCI Unveils Exciting Changes for 2025/26 Domestic Cricket Season
Major Announcements from BCCI's Apex Council Meeting
New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced significant updates for the 2025/26 domestic cricket season following a meeting of its Apex Council on Saturday. The season will kick off with the Duleep Trophy on August 28 and will conclude with the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy on April 3, 2026.
In a notable shift, the Duleep Trophy and Senior Women’s Challenger tournaments will now feature six zonal teams, selected by zonal selectors, moving away from the previous practice where the national selection committee was responsible for team selection.
Additionally, the Apex Council has introduced a restructuring of the Plate Group across various age categories. The bottom six teams from the last season will now compete in the Plate Group for limited-overs tournaments, with only one team being promoted or relegated between the Elite and Plate groups in the future.
The prestigious Ranji Trophy will continue to be conducted in two phases during the 2025/26 season. The first phase is set to commence on October 15 and will run until November 19, while the second phase will begin on January 22.
In terms of tournament formats, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Senior Women’s T20 Trophy will now feature a Super League stage instead of the traditional knockout format. Each team will play three matches in the league, with the top teams from Groups A and B advancing to the final.
For major tournaments like the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Senior Women’s One Day Trophy, and Men’s U23 State A Trophy, a new grouping format will be implemented, consisting of four Elite Groups and one Plate Group. Meanwhile, most junior and women’s tournaments (U16, U19, U23) will adopt a structure of five Elite Groups and one Plate Group.
The BCCI Apex Council has also confirmed the venues for India's upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand, scheduled for early 2026. ODIs will take place in Vadodara, Rajkot, and Indore on January 11, 14, and 18, respectively.
The five T20I matches will be hosted in Nagpur, Raipur, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, and Thiruvananthapuram from January 21 to 31. These matches will serve as crucial preparation for both teams ahead of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
Ranji Trophy Groups for 2025-26 season
Elite A: Tamil Nadu, Baroda, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland
Elite B: Saurashtra, Chandigarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Goa
Elite C: Gujarat, Haryana, Services, Bengal, Railways, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Assam
Elite D: Mumbai, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Hyderabad, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry
Plate: Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal
India vs New Zealand men’s white-ball series schedule:
ODIs: – Vadodara (January 11), Rajkot (January 14), Indore (January 18)
T20Is: – Nagpur (January 21), Raipur (January 23), Guwahati (January 25), Visakhapatnam (January 28), Thiruvananthapuram (January 31)