The BCCI has decided to make some major changes to India's domestic tournaments including the Duleep Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in a bid to make it more competitive.
The Duleep Trophy competition will be changed back to zonal teams where the teams will be chosen by zonal selectors. Meanwhile, in the Ranji Trophy competition, only one team will be promoted or relegated from the Plate and Elite Groups, respectively.
"All multi-day men's tournaments (senior and junior), 1 team will be promoted and 1 team will be relegated for the 2026-27 season grouping," read a BCCI as per PTI
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Major Changes Made To Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy & SMAT
Changes have also been made to India's premier domestic T20 competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. There will be a Super League Stage instead of the previous knockout stage. The eight qualifying teams will be put in a group of four teams each. Each team will play three matches against each other their group. The top two teams from the groups will play the final. A similar change has also been made to the Senior Women's T20 Trophy as well.
Changes have been made to the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Senior Women's One Day Trophy, and Men's U23 State A Trophy as well. These tournaments will now follow a different grouping format compared to last year. Until the last season,  in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, there were three groups of eight teams and two groups of seven. However, from this season onwards,  there will be four Elite Groups and a Plate Group for these tournaments. The teams have been decided on the back of numerous factors like points, wins and NRR.
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Schedule Of BCCI's Upcoming Domestic Season
Tournament | Start Date (League) | End Date (League) | Start Date (Knockout) | End Date (Knockout) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Duleep Trophy | NA | NA | 28-Aug-25 | 15-Sep-25 |
Irani Cup | NA | NA | 01-Oct-25 | 05-Oct-25 |
Ranji Trophy - Elite | 15-Oct-25 to 19-Nov-25 (Phase 1) | 22-Jan-26 to 01-Feb-26 (Phase 2) | 06-Feb-26 | 28-Feb-26 |
Ranji Trophy - Plate | 15-Oct-25 | 19-Nov-25 | 22-Jan-26 | 26-Jan-26 |
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - Elite | 26-Nov-25 | 08-Dec-25 | 12-Dec-25 | 18-Dec-25 |
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy - Plate | 26-Nov-25 | 04-Dec-25 | 06-Dec-25 | 06-Dec-25 |
Vijay Hazare Trophy - Elite | 24-Dec-25 | 08-Jan-26 | 12-Jan-26 | 18-Jan-26 |
Vijay Hazare Trophy - Plate | 24-Dec-25 | 03-Jan-26 | 06-Jan-26 | 06-Jan-26 |
Senior Women's T20 Trophy - Elite | 08-Oct-25 | 19-Oct-25 | 25-Oct-25 | 31-Oct-25 |
Senior Women's T20 Trophy - Plate | 08-Oct-25 | 15-Oct-25 | 17-Oct-25 | 17-Oct-25 |
Senior Women's One Day Trophy - Elite | 06-Feb-26 | 18-Feb-26 | 22-Feb-26 | 28-Feb-26 |
Senior Women's One Day Trophy - Plate | 06-Feb-26 | 14-Feb-26 | 16-Feb-26 | 16-Feb-26 |
The upcoming domestic season will start with the Duleep Trophy from August 28 and will conclude with the Senior Women's Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy on April 3, 2026.
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