BCCI 2025–26 Domestic Season: Ranji Trophy Begins October 15, T20 Knockouts Set for Format Revamp
The Ranji Trophy will be played in two parts. The first part will start on October 15 and go on till November 19. After a short break, the second part will begin on January 22.
In its meeting on Saturday, the top officials of the BCCI agreed that holding the tournament in two phases would make it easier for players to handle their workload. They also felt that having a good break between the phases would give players enough time to rest and recover.
SMAT & Vijay Hazare: Format Tweaks and Team Promotions
Between mid-November and mid-January, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy will take place during the break in the Ranji Trophy. The SMAT, along with the Senior Women’s T20 knockout matches, will follow a Super League format. In this setup, each team will play three matches, and the top teams from Group A and Group B will face off in the final.
According to the insiders, this has been done to make the tournament more exciting.
It was also decided that in men’s and women’s one-day and T20 matches, the bottom six teams from the 2024–25 season will be placed in the Plate group. At the end of the season, the top team from the Plate group will move up to the Elite group, and the lowest team from the Elite group will move down to the Plate group for the 2026–27 season. As for the multi-day men’s tournaments, both at the senior and junior level, the same system will continue, one team will be promoted and one will be relegated for the 2026–27 season.
Ranji Trophy Groups for 2025-26 season
| Group | Teams |
|---|---|
| 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 & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Hyderabad, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry |
| Plate | Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh |
Meanwhile, the Duleep Trophy & Senior Women’s Challengers will feature six zonal teams - North Zone, East Zone, North East Zone, Central Zone, West Zone, South Zone. Unlike the last time, where the national selection committee picked the squads, this time the teams will be picked by the Zonal Selection Committee as was the tradition. The Duleep Trophy will open the 2025-26 domestic season in September. The Irani Cup will run from October 1 to 5.
The BCCI is planning to bring equal pay for all scorers at international matches across stadiums in India. As per the new plan, scorers will be paid ₹25,000 for each day of work during ODIs and Test matches. For T20 Internationals, they will receive ₹12,500 per match day.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad, Rajkot, Indore, Nagpur, Ranchi, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, and Thiruvananthapuram were chosen as the venues for the 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is against New Zealand next year.
India vs New Zealand White-Ball Series 2026
| Format | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| ODI 1 | Jan 11, 2026 | Hyderabad |
| ODI 2 | Jan 14, 2026 | Rajkot |
| ODI 3 | Jan 18, 2026 | Indore |
| T20I 1 | Jan 21, 2026 | Nagpur |
| T20I 2 | Jan 23, 2026 | Ranchi |
| T20I 3 | Jan 25, 2026 | Guwahati |
| T20I 4 | Jan 28, 2026 | Visakhapatnam |
| T20I 5 | Jan 31, 2026 | Thiruvananthapuram |
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