The Duleep Trophy, a staple of India’s domestic cricket, will revert to its traditional zonal format for the 2025-26 season, commencing on 28th August. This change, among several others, was recently sanctioned by the BCCI’s Apex Council. Notably, a Super League phase will now feature in both the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy. Furthermore, a Plate Division is being reintroduced for the domestic 50-overs tournaments and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Previously, the Duleep Trophy was played among four teams: India A, B, C, and D, with selectors choosing top players for a busy Test schedule in a round-robin setup. However, from this coming season, six teams—North, South, East, West, Central, and North-East—will compete, selected by their respective zonal committees.
“The return to the zonal system aims to enhance the quality of cricket and instill a sense of pride in players representing their zones, rather than just focusing on individual achievements,” stated a senior BCCI official.
The men’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the women’s T20 competitions will feature a refreshed structure, introducing a Super League phase post-group stages. Initially, 32 teams will be split into four groups of eight. The top two from each group will then enter the Super League, where they will compete for a place in the final.
The BCCI is also reintroducing the Plate Division across major tournaments like the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy, and Men’s U-23 State Trophy. A BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo that this move aims to “prevent dilution of tournament quality and avert mismatches.” Teams that finished in the bottom six in the 2024-25 season will form the respective tournaments’ Plate Divisions.
As with last year, the Ranji Trophy will be conducted in two phases, interspersed with white-ball competitions. This schedule adjustment is intended to minimize weather-related disruptions, particularly in northern and eastern regions of India.
Fixture Clash with Women’s World Cup
The commencement of the Indian women’s cricket season will coincide with the 2025 Women’s 50-over World Cup, co-hosted by India and Colombo from 30th September to 2nd November. The Senior Women’s T20 Trophy’s Elite category will run from 8th to 31st October, followed by the Inter-Zonal T20 Trophy between 4th and 14th November. The domestic calendar will then pause to accommodate the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in January 2026, before concluding with the Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy in February and the Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy from 20th March to 3rd April.
Shashank Kishore serves as a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo.
