Follow UsThe Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have made some changes to the rules and playing conditions for the upcoming domestic season, the Indian board announced after the Apex Council meeting on June 14 (Saturday).
The 2025-26 domestic season will begin with the Duleep Trophy on August 28, 2025, and conclude with the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy on April 3, 2026.
Here are some of the major changes the BCCI have introduced for the upcoming season:
- The Duleep Trophy and the Senior Women’s Challenger tournaments will now feature six zonal teams, selected by zonal selectors.
- Plate Group restructuring has been implemented across all age categories. The bottom six teams (based on the previous season’s rankings) will be placed in the Plate Group for limited-overs tournaments.
- Promotion/relegation rules have been updated: only one team will be promoted or relegated between the Elite and Plate groups, instead of two.
- The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy will now include a Super League stage, replacing the traditional knockout format.
- Major tournaments such as the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Senior Women’s One Day Trophy, and Men’s U23 State A Trophy will follow a "4 Elite Groups + 1 Plate Group" model. Most junior and women’s tournaments (U16, U19, U23) have moved to a "5 Elite + 1 Plate Group" structure.
- The team rankings for One Day and T20 tournaments will now be determined based on points, followed by the number of wins, and then Net Run Rate (NRR). Previously, the head-to-head record was preferred over NRR.
(With inputs from the BCCI press release. Click here for all the updates.)