The prestigious Duleep Trophy (September 8-25) will be contested between six zones (North, South, Central, West, East and Northeast) on a knockout basis.
The Duleep Trophy, back in the calendar in its old zonal format after three years, will kick-start the Indian domestic season from September 8 with 1500 games across all age-groups over a period of six months, the BCCI said on Monday. (More Cricket News)
“The prestigious Duleep Trophy will mark the start of a full-fledged season, which will also see a return of the Irani Cup,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah was quoted as saying by media release.
“The Duleep Trophy (September 8-25) will be contested between six zones (North, South, Central, West, East and Northeast) on a knockout basis,” Shah added. The BCCI was not following the zonal format for the last few seasons, fielding the India Red, Blue and Green teams instead.
With the zonal format making a comeback, it will have one extra zone in northeast, besides the existing five. The two multi-day tournaments will be followed by the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (October 11-November 5) and the Vijay Hazare Trophy (November 12- December 2).
The two white-ball tournaments will be contested between 38 teams split into three groups of eight teams and two groups comprising seven sides. The Ranji Trophy will be back to its old format and starts from December 13 and ends on February 20.
The elite and plate groups will be back. The elite group will comprise 32 teams and will have four groups of eight teams in a home and away format with each team playing seven matches in the league stage.
The top two teams from each of the four groups will directly qualify for the quarterfinals. The plate group will comprise six teams with 15 league matches and the top four will directly qualify for the semi-final while the bottom two will play against each other for the 5th/6th place.
Both the elite group and plate group league matches will start on December 13 with the plate league concluding on January 29 and the elite group finishing on February 20.
As the ICC Women's T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place in South Africa in February 2023, the women's calendar begins with the Senior Women's T20 Trophy on October 11 and concludes on November 5.
It will then be followed by the Senior Women's Inter-zonal T20 and T20 Challenger. The 50-over format will then take over with Senior Women's one-day Trophy and the inter-zonal one-day. Both the Senior Women's Inter-zonal T20 and one-day have been re-introduced this season.
For the first time, the board will conduct a one-day tournament for girls at the U-16 level. The competition will help the girls get a feel of competitive cricket at a young age and help them make a smoother transition to the U-19 level.
Since South Africa will also host the inaugural U-19 Women's T20 World Cup in January, the women's U-19 T20 Trophy and Women's U-19 T20 Challenger have been scheduled from October 1 to November 7.
Senior Men
September 8-25: Duleep Trophy (Multi-Day)
October 1-5: Irani Cup
October 11-November 5: Syed Mushtaq Ali T20
November 12-December 2: Vijay Hazare (50 over)
December 13-February 20: Ranji Trophy
Senior Women
October 11-November 5: National T20
November 8-15: Inter-Zonal T20
November 20-26: Challenger T20
January 18-February 7: National One Dayers
February 12-21: Inter-Zonal One Dayers.