BCCI Announces Big Changes for 2025–26 Domestic Cricket Season: Full Schedule Out

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has changed and took some big updates for the 2025–26 domestic season, along with the full schedule. One of the main changes is that the Duleep Trophy will go back to its old format zonal teams picked by zonal selectors. Last season, it was played between four mixed Indian teams, but now it will once again be North, South, East, West, and Central Zones competing.

In the Ranji Trophy, the promotion system has been made stricter. Now, only one team from the Plate Group will move up to the Elite Group, and only one team will drop down. This means fewer teams will change groups this season.

There’s also a new twist in India’s domestic T20 tournament, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Instead of knockout matches after the group stage, there will now be a Super League. The top 8 teams from the group stage will be split into two groups of four. Each team will play 3 matches in their group, and the group winners will face off in the final. This same format will also be used for the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy.

New Grouping for One-Day Tournaments

The Vijay Hazare Trophy, Senior Women’s One Day Trophy, and Men’s U23 State A Trophy will now have a new group format. Earlier, the Vijay Hazare Trophy had five groups of uneven sizes. From now on, all three tournaments will have four Elite Groups and one Plate Group. Teams have been grouped based on their past performances how many matches they won, their total points, and their net run rate. Teams that don’t perform well will be pushed down to the Plate Group for the next season’s limited-overs tournaments.

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When Does the Season Start?

The new domestic season will kick off on August 28, 2025, with the Duleep Trophy, and will end on April 3, 2026, with the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy. The entire season will run for a little over five months, packed with exciting matches across all formats.

Key Changes in Indian Domestic Cricket for the 2025–26 Season

The BCCI has made several important updates to the domestic cricket structure for the 2025–26 season. These changes are aimed at making the competitions more competitive and better organized.

Major Updates at a Glance

2025–26 Key Tournament Schedule

India vs New Zealand 2026: Probable ODI & T20I Venues