Ranji Trophy to begin on October 11 as BCCI announces 1,788-match domestic schedule

The BCCI on Wednesday unveiled an expansive domestic calendar for the 2026-27 season, with a staggering 1,788 matches scheduled across men’s and women’s cricket, spanning senior, U-23, U-19 and U-16 categories. The season will begin with the Duleep Trophy on August 23 and continue through March 2027, underlining the board’s continued emphasis on strengthening India’s domestic structure.

The upcoming season will feature several structural tweaks and scheduling changes, including the return of the Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy Winners vs Rest of India fixture, the conversion of select U-23 tournaments into T20 competitions, and neutral knockout venues for the Cooch Behar Trophy.

The BCCI said the calendar had been designed to ensure “balanced progression across formats and categories”, while continuing to prioritise red-ball cricket.

The red-ball season will once again open with the zonal Duleep Trophy, to be played at the Centre of Excellence from August 23 to September 10, before the Irani Cup, scheduled from October 1 to 5 in Srinagar/Jammu.

RANJI TROPHY FROM OCT 11

The Ranji Trophy will continue in its split-phase format, with the league stage beginning on October 11 before resuming in January after the white-ball block. The knockouts are scheduled from February 9 to March 3. The format remains unchanged, with 32 teams divided into four Elite groups of eight teams each, while six teams will compete in the Plate division. The top two teams from each Elite group will qualify directly for the quarter-finals.

Defending champions Jammu & Kashmir headline Elite Group A alongside Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh, while Karnataka, Andhra and Saurashtra form part of a competitive Elite Group B. Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala are grouped in Elite C, whereas Mumbai, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan feature in Elite D.

One of the notable additions to the calendar is the reinstatement of the Col. C.K. Nayudu Trophy Winners vs Rest of India match, to be played from October 1 to 4 in Chennai under the TNCA. The fixture returns after a prolonged absence and is aimed at providing greater exposure to emerging U-23 cricketers.

In a significant white-ball development, the Men’s U-23 State A Trophy and the Vizzy Trophy have both been converted from one-day tournaments into T20 competitions, reflecting the board’s attempt to align domestic cricket with the changing demands of the modern game.

MAJOR WHITE-BALL EVENTS

The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s premier domestic T20 competition, will run from November 14 to December 6. Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata and Mohali will host the league phase, while Nagpur has been allotted the knockout matches.

The tournament format retains the recently introduced Super League stage. The top two teams from each of the four Elite groups will advance into two Super League groups, with the group toppers contesting the final. Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bengal and Karnataka headline Elite Group A, while Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Tamil Nadu are grouped in Elite B. Andhra, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra feature in Elite C, with Hyderabad, Mumbai, Gujarat and Vidarbha forming a strong Elite D lineup.

The Vijay Hazare Trophy will be played from December 14 to January 8, with Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Ranchi and Rajkot hosting the league stage and Visakhapatnam staging the knockouts. Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are placed in Elite Group A, while Saurashtra, Mumbai and Gujarat feature in Group B. Punjab, Delhi and Maharashtra form the core of Elite C, whereas Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Bengal headline Elite D.

The BCCI has also introduced a scheduling tweak for junior cricket by advancing the Vijay Merchant Trophy (U-16) to the November-January window in a bid to improve player preparation and streamline the calendar.

Another major change concerns the Cooch Behar Trophy knockouts. Traditionally played on home venues, the knockout stages of the U-19 red-ball competition will now be staged entirely in Bengaluru and Mysuru. The BCCI said the move was intended to ensure more balanced playing conditions during the January knockout phase, when weather variations across regions often become a factor.

WOMEN'S CRICKET SCHEDULE

Women’s domestic cricket will once again occupy a significant chunk of the calendar. The Senior Women’s T20 Trophy is scheduled from October 26 to November 20, with Lucknow, Pune, Delhi and Mohali hosting league matches, while Ahmedabad will stage the knockouts.

The Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy will run from December 19 to January 10 across Cuttack, Jaipur, Baroda and Raipur, with Chennai hosting the knockouts.

The women’s inter-zonal structure also remains intact, with T20, one-day and multi-day competitions featuring six zonal teams — Central, South, North, East, West and North-East Zones.

At the junior level, the Women’s U-19 T20 Trophy will be held from October 9 to 26, while the Women’s U-19 Challenger Trophy is slated for Dharamshala from October 30 to November 5.

The BCCI has retained the promotion and relegation system across formats, with Plate group winners earning promotion and the bottom-ranked Elite side facing relegation for the following season. Rankings in multi-day tournaments will continue to be determined through points, bonus points, wins, head-to-head record and quotient, while white-ball competitions will use points, wins and net run-rate as primary criteria.