Duleep Trophy begins on Aug 17, Ranji Trophy from Nov 1

Mumbai, July 18 (CRICKETNMORE):  The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced that the 37-team Raji Trophy championship will be held from November 1, 2018 to February 6, 2019 after the conclusion of the Vijay Hazare and the Deodhar Trophy 50-overs tournaments.

The domestic season will begin with the Duleep Trophy, starting on August 17, 2018. It will end on September 8.

Then the Vijay Hazare Trophy will run from September 19 to October 20, while the Deodhar Trophy will run from October 23 to 27.

The Ranji Trophy will have nine new teams in Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Puducherry, Sikkim & Uttarakhand.

The tournament will have nine teams each in Elite Group A and B and 10 teams in the Elite Group C. 

The nine new teams will be placed in the Plate group category. As per Justice RM Lodha committee recommendations, extension of the game to the remote areas was a priority and that is how the states from North East were introduced in this year's Ranji Trophy as participants in the plate division.

The top team that qualifies for quarter-finals from the Plate group will be promoted to Elite Group C in the next season. The top two teams that qualify for the quarter-finals from Elite Group C will be promoted to Elite Group A & B in the next season.

The Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy will also comprise 37 teams and will be played after the Irani Trophy. This will be a great platform for the domestic players to prepare for the IPL.

The Col C K Nayudu Trophy, Vinoo Mankad Trophy, Cooch Behar Trophy and Vizzy Trophy (Inter-university competition) will cater to the young and budding talent of the country.

The senior women's team will commence their domestic season with the T20 Challenger Trophy, while the one-day league runs from December 1 to 29.

The one-day Challenger Trophy will be held from January 4, 2019 to January 8, while the T20 league will begin on February 20, 2019 and run till March 13, 2019.

The BCCI is set to host more than 2,000 matches across various age-group competitions.