Season to start with Duleep Trophy

NEW DELHI: This year’s cricket domestic season will kick off with the Duleep Trophy, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Wednesday. It has also scheduled the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Deodhar Trophy ahead of the Ranji Trophy, ensuring teams have enough match practice when the marquee domestic tournament begins on November 1. A total of 37 teams will take part in the Ranji Trophy, including nine new teams. The tournament will have nine teams each in Elite Group A and B while Group Duleep Trophy: Aug 17-Sep 8 Vijay Hazare Trophy: Sep 19-Oct20

Prof Deodhar Trophy: Oct 23-Oct 27

Ranji Trophy: Nov 1, 2018-Feb 6, 2019

Irani Trophy: Feb 11-Feb 15, 2019 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Feb 21, 2019 — Mar 14, 2019

C will have 10 teams. The new teams — Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim and Uttarakhand — will be placed in the Plate group category. The top team that qualifies for the quarter-finals from the Plate group will be promoted to Group C next season. The top two teams that qualify for the quarter-finals from Group C will be promoted to Group A and B.

The bottom two teams from Group A and Group B combined will be relegated to Group C in the next season.

The team finishing last in Group C will be relegated to Plate Group in the next season.

The women’s domestic season will start with the T20 Challenger Trophy from August 13 and will run up till March 13, 2019 with the senior one-day league, the oneday Challenger Trophy and the T20 League to follow.