On Wednesday, the Board of Cricket Control in India released their schedule for the upcoming season, 2026-2027. The calendar included matches from all groups, including the U-16, U-19, and U-23 for men’s and women’s cricket.
This season will unfold from August and will continue till March next year. A total of 1788 matches are there in the released schedule.
Men’s Cricket schedule
The men’s domestic cricket has their prestigious tournaments like the Duleep Trophy, Irani Cup, and Ranji Trophy. With the white ball, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy are some of the important tournaments for the senior team.
The cycle will start with the Duleep Trophy, followed by tournaments lined up.
The red ball schedule in Men’s cricket
The Duleep Trophy will be played starting on August 23rd. All matches will be played in Bengaluru’s Centre of Excellence (CoE). This setup features six regional teams- North Zone, South Zone, East Zone, West Zone, Central Zone, and North East Zone, with Central Zone reigning as the defending champions.
After that, the Irani Cup will be hosted in Srinagar from October 1. It operates as a one-off, five-day first-class match that functions as a super-cup-style fixture in Indian domestic cricket. It is played between the Ranji Trophy Champions and the Rest of India- a star-studded composite squad specifically put together by national selector
Meanwhile, the prestigious Ranji Trophy will be starting on October 11. As usual, it be played in split sessions, with the second season starting in January in 2027.
38 teams compete, including Indian states, select union territories. The top tier consists of 32 teams divided evenly into four groups of eight (Groups A, B, C, and D). Teams play a single round-robin against everyone in their respective group. The top two teams from each group advance directly to the 8-team quarterfinal.
- Group A Examples: Jammu & Kashmir (reigning champions), Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Uttar Pradesh, Baroda, Jharkhand, Andhra, Nagaland.
- Group B Examples: Karnataka, Saurashtra, Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Chandigarh, Goa, Puducherry.
- Group C Examples: Bengal, Delhi, Haryana, Railways, Services, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Assam.
- Group D Examples: Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Saurashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Hyderabad, Uttarakhand, Odisha
This tier accommodates six developing or newer state cricket associations competing in a standalone single round-robin group. They are Meghalaya, Bihar, Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh. The top four teams qualify for the Plate knockouts to battle for the two coveted promotion spots
Schedule for red ball cricket major trophies, men
| Tournament | Date |
| Duleep Trophy | August 23-September 10 |
| Irani Cup | October 1–October 5 |
Ranji trophy schedule
| Window | Elite Division | Plate Division |
| Phase 1 | October 11-November 5 | October 11-November 5 |
| Phase 2 | January 17- February 4 | January 17-January 20 |
| Knockout Stage | February 9-March 3 | January 24-January 28 |
Major White ball events
BCCI has announced SMAT to start on November, in between the Ranji Trophy intermission. The league phase will be played in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kolkata and Mohali, while Nagpur will host the knockout stages.
The tournament will follow the Super League format, where the top two teams from each of the four Elite groups advance into two Super League groups, and the group toppers play the final. Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bengal and Karnataka headline Elite A, while Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Tamil Nadu feature in Elite B. Andhra, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are in Elite C, while Hyderabad, Mumbai, Gujarat and Vidarbha form Elite D.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy will be held from December 14 to January 8, with Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Ranchi and Rajkot hosting the league stage, while Visakhapatnam will stage 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 Elite C, whereas Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Bengal headline Elite D.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has also advanced the Vijay Merchant Trophy to the November-January window to improve player preparation and streamline the calendar.
Another key change concerns the Cooch Behar Trophy knockouts, which will now be played entirely in Bengaluru and Mysuru instead of home venues to ensure balanced playing conditions during January.
Schedules of Men’s white-ball cricket
| Tournament | Time |
| Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy | November 14-December 6 |
| Vijay Hazare Trophy | December 14- January 8 |
| Vijay Merchant Trophy (Under-16) | November 2026- January 2027 |
| Cooch Behar Trophy (Under-19) | January 3 to January 30 |
Women’s cricket Schedule
Women’s domestic cricket will remain a major part of the calendar. The Senior Women’s T20 Trophy will be held from October 26 to November 20, while the Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy is scheduled from December 19 to January 10.
The inter-zonal structure featuring six zones — Central, South, North, East, West and North-East — remains unchanged across T20, one-day and multi-day formats. At the junior level, the Women’s U-19 T20 Trophy will run from October 9 to 26, while the Women’s U-19 Challenger Trophy will take place in Dharamshala from October 30 to November 5. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has also retained the promotion and relegation system across formats.
| Tournament | Date |
| Senior Women’s T20 Trophy | October 26 – November 20 |
| Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy | December 19 – January 10 |
| Women’s U-19 T20 Trophy | October 9 – 26 |
| Women’s U-19 Challenger Trophy | October 30 – November 5 |
