BCCI Announces India's Full Domestic Cricket 2025-26 Schedule

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced its full plan for the 2025-26 domestic cricket season. This includes details about the Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT), Vijay Hazare Trophy, Irani Cup, and changes in tournament formats. The BCCI’s apex council met on Saturday and made several key decisions to improve scheduling, reduce player workload, and increase competition.

The board made a no. of changes in the domestic circuit for the next season and also announced the venues for the New Zealand tour of India next year. The BCCI has made it clear that the 2025-26 season will be more structured, competitive, and fair with the goal of helping players, selectors, and support staff prepare for the future of Indian cricket.

India Domestic Schedule 2025-26

According to India Domestic schedule 2025-26, the Ranji Trophy, India’s most prestigious domestic red-ball tournament, will once again be played in two separate phases. It is the same way the tournament was played during the last season. Between the two phases, domestic white-ball tournaments will take place.

• Phase 1: October 15 to November 19, 2025
• Phase 2: January 22, 2026 onwards

The idea behind the phase-wise schedule is to allow players enough time to rest and recover between games. This helps in managing player workload, especially for those who are part of multiple formats. Notably, between the two Ranji phases, two major limited-overs tournaments will be held - Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Duleep Trophy, Irani Cup, Ranji Trophy 2025-26 Schedule

The India domestic season 2025-26 comprises of five tournaments. Here is the schedule of all those tournaments:

• Duleep Trophy: August-September 2025
• Irani Cup: October 1-5, 2025
• Ranji Trophy Phase 1: October 15 - November 19, 2025
• SMAT & Vijay Hazare Trophy: Mid-November 2025 - Mid-January 2026
• Ranji Trophy Phase 2: Begins January 22, 2026

The BCCI has also decided to revise the promotion and relegation system for men’s and women’s limited-overs tournaments (one-day and T20s). From the 2024-25 season, the bottom six teams will play in the Plate group in 2025-26. Only one team will be promoted to the Elite group, and one team will be relegated to the Plate group.
This is a change from last year, when two teams were moved up and down. The same rule will apply to all multi-day men’s tournaments, including both Senior and Junior categories.

Ranji Trophy 2025-26 Groups

The BCCI has also revealed the groups for the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season. The teams are divided into four Elite groups and one Plate group. Two elite groups have seven teams each, while the other two have eight teams each. The Plate Group comprises five teams.

These groupings have been made to maintain a competitive balance in the tournament and to give all the teams a fair chance to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.

Duleep Trophy and Senior Women’s Challenger Trophy

The Duleep Trophy will be the first tournament of the 2025-26 domestic season. It will be played in late August and September. Six zonal teams will take part in the tournament:

• North Zone
• East Zone
• North East Zone
• Central Zone
• West Zone
• South Zone

In a major change, the squads will not be selected by the national selection committee. Instead, the Zonal Selection Committees will pick the players for their respective zones. This is a return to the old system, which many believe brings better regional representation, giving better opportunities to the budding cricketers. The Senior Women’s Challenger Trophy will also follow this zonal format.

New Pay Structure for Indian Internationals

The BCCI is also planning to introduce uniform match fees for scorers across all international venues in India. This move will benefit those who record scores and keep match data officially. The new pay structure is as follows:

• Test and ODI matches: ₹25,000 per match day
• T20I matches: ₹12,500 per match day

This step is seen as a positive development towards recognising the contribution of scorers and ensuring they are paid fairly across the country.
All these changes are part of the BCCI’s plan to make domestic cricket stronger and more organised. Splitting the Ranji Trophy into two parts gives players more time to recover. Super League formats in white-ball cricket make tournaments more exciting. The promotion and relegation system adds more meaning to every match.