The 91st season of India's premier red-ball competition, the Ranji Trophy, will start on October 15 at 19 venues across the country.
Vidarbha enters the season as defending champions and appear to be the favourites for the title after recently winning the Irani Cup. Their players also played a key role in Central Zone's Duleep Trophy victory.
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With 135 matches scheduled across the Elite Groups and Plate League, the nation's domestic talent will look to show their skills in pursuit of further opportunities at the India, India A, and IPL levels.
As the all new season begins, The Sporting News takes a look at all the details of the tournament.
When will the Ranji Trophy 2025/26 start?
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced that the round 1 fixtures of the Ranji Trophy 2025/26 season will start from October 15, 2025, with 19 matches scheduled across the country.
The first phase of the Ranji season will end on November 19. During the December-early January period, teams compete in white-ball tournaments such as the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The final of the tournament will be played from February 24, 2026, at the end of the second phase, beginning from January 22.
Plate league will have a completely different schedule, with the final scheduled from January 22 to 26.
What is the format of the Ranji Trophy 2025/26 season?
The reintroduction of the Plate League means the 32 top teams in India are divided into four groups of eight teams each, while six teams will separately contest in the Plate League to earn promotions.
A table is formed for every group (Elite A to D), and each team plays the other seven teams in its group during the league phase. Similarly, each team plays five other teams in the Plate League.
The top-2 teams from each group will then proceed to play the Quarterfinals, followed by the semi-final and final.
On the other hand, the top-2 teams of the Plate League will automatically qualify for next season's Elite Groups irrespective of the result of the Plate final between them.
The two worst-performing sides across Elite A to D will be demoted to the Plate League for the 2026/27 season.
What are the groups of the Ranji Trophy 2025/26?
The defending champions Vidarbha find themselves in Elite A, alongside the big teams like Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, while the runner-ups Kerala are in Elite B.
The 38 participating teams are divided into four Elite Groups of eight teams each. There is also a plate group of six teams, where teams will compete for a promotion.
Bihar and Meghalaya were demoted to the plate competition due to their poor performances last season. On the other hand, Goa and Nagaland earned their promotion to Elite Groups after playing the Plate League final in 2024/25.
| Elite A | Elite B | Elite C | Elite D | Plate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vidarbha | Kerala | Gujarat | Mumbai | Arunachal Pradesh |
| Tamil Nadu | Punjab | Railways | Jammu and Kashmir | Sikkim |
| Uttar Pradesh | Madhya Pradesh | Bengal | Delhi | Mizoram |
| Jharkhand | Karnataka | Haryana | Rajasthan | Meghalaya |
| Baroda | Saurashtra | Assam | Hyderabad | Manipur |
| Andhra | Maharashtra | Uttarakhand | Himachal Pradesh | Bihar |
| Odisha | Goa | Services | Chattisgarh | |
| Nagaland | Chandigarh | Tripura | Puducherry |
Who are the captains in the Ranji Trophy 2025/26?
Below is the list of captains for the Ranji Trophy 2025/26:
- Vidarbha- Akshay Wadkar
- Kerala- Mohammed Azharuddeen
- Mumbai- Shardul Thakur
- Gujarat- Manan Hingrajiya
- Jammu and Kashmir- Paras Dogra
- Delhi- Ayush Badoni
- Bengal- Abhimanyu Easwaran
- Tamil Nadu- N. Jagadeesan
- Madhya Pradesh- Rajat Patidar
- Karnataka- Mayank Agarwal
- Maharashtra- Ankeet Bawane
- Jharkhand- Ishan Kishan
- Odisha- Subhranshu Senapati
- Hyderabad- Tilak Varma
- Chhattisgarh- Amandeep Khare
* Captains of the other teams will be added soon
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