Overview
- The BCCI published the full 2026–27 schedule on Wednesday, laying out 1,788 matches across men’s and women’s senior and age‑group competitions.
- The season opens with the zonal Duleep Trophy at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru from August 23, and the Ranji Trophy league phase starts on October 11 before pausing for white‑ball blocks and resuming in January with knockouts from February 9 to March 3.
- Select under‑23 tournaments—the Men’s U23 State A Trophy and the Vizzy Trophy—have been converted from one‑day events to T20s, and the Col. C.K. Nayudu Winners v Rest fixture has been reinstated for October 1–4.
- The Irani Cup will be played by Ranji champions Jammu & Kashmir against Rest of India from October 1 to 6 at the Sher‑i‑Kashmir Stadium in Srinagar, and the Cooch Behar Trophy knockouts are centralised to Bengaluru and Mysuru to even out conditions.
- Schedule and venue changes are meant to protect red‑ball development, ease junior players’ exam clashes by moving the Vijay Merchant U16 window to November–January, and give talent scouts clearer timing by placing the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 before the IPL auction.