BCCI announces domestic cricket schedule for 2025-26 as Duleep Trophy returns to zonal format

‌The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced the schedule for the 2025-26 domestic cricket season with the return of Duleep Trophy back to the zonal format being one among many important changes ratified by the BCCI Apex Committee from last year. The multi-day tournament, starting on August 28, will once again be the curtain raiser for the five-month long domestic season with the six regional teams representing six different zones competing for the prestigious trophy.

Last year, the tournament was played in a different format with the BCCI naming four teams A, B, C and D with an eye on performances ahead of the Indian men’s team’s home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. But this year it will again return to its usual zonal format with the final being scheduled to be played at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

The Duleep Trophy will be followed by the Irani Cup, where the Ranji Trophy champions of the previous season will meet the Rest of India side in a five-day contest. The one-off match will be played at Nagpur, home to the Vidarbha cricket team which won the premier domestic tournament in the last season, from October 1 to 5.

The Ranji Trophy 2025-26 campaign will begin after a gap of 10 days with the first phase to be played between October 15 and November 19. Similar to last year, the red-ball tournament will make way for the white-ball events before starting its second phase in January next year. The BCCI has decided to continue the move since most of the red ball games played in north and east India during winter are either abandoned or overs are lost due to fog and poor visibility.

The white-ball leg will kickstart with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the premier domestic T20 tournament in India, from November 19 followed by the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-dayers the next month. The BCCI has planned to introduce a Super League for both men’s and women’s T20 tournaments after the group stage, which will consist of eight groups of four teams each with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the Super League. In the Super League, each team will play three matches with the top two teams progressing to the final.

The Plate Division has been re-introduced for key tournaments like the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the senior women’s one-day trophy with BCCI aiming to prevent dilution in the quality of tournaments and the possibility of mismatches. The six bottom-placed teams from the previous season will make up the plate divisions of the respective tournaments.