Zonal selection committee

Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: After a meeting on Saturday, the Apex Council of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the 2025/26 domestic will begin with the Duleep Trophy on August 28 and conclude with the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy on April 3, 2026.

As per changes announced by the Apex Council, the Duleep Trophy and Senior Women’s Challenger tournaments will now be contested between six zonal teams selected by zonal selectors. The format is a departure from the last time when the national selection committee picked the squads, and for the upcoming season, teams will be picked by the Zonal Selection Committee as per the previous tradition.

The Apex Council also said the Plate Group restructuring has been introduced across age categories. As per this, the bottom 6 teams (based on the previous season’s rankings) will be placed in the plate group for limited-overs tournaments, adding that only one team will be promoted/relegated between Elite and Plate groups going forward.