Ranji Trophy scheduled ahead of Duleep Trophy

The Ranji Trophy has been scheduled before the Duleep Trophy this year, which means players who perform well in the former, will be rewarded with places in the zone-based Duleep Trophy. In the last two seasons, the Duleep Trophy was played ahead of the Ranji and players were selected on the basis of the previous season's performance.

The change also means the Ranji Trophy will start on November 3, with the final scheduled to get over by January 20, much earlier than the previous few seasons. The Duleep Trophy will start on January 26, with the final scheduled for February 17 to 21.

The Duleep Trophy will be followed by the two one-day tournaments - inter-state one-dayers and the Deodhar Trophy. All Deodhar Trophy matches will be played at recognised South-Zone ODI venues. These will end on April 12 and will be followed by the domestic Twenty20 Championships, the final of which will be played on April 24 at a Central-Zone venue.

The domestic season kicks off on October 6 with the Irani Trophy, slated to be played at Rajkot. The NKP Salve Challenger Trophy will be played between October 24 and 27 at Ahmedabad. Other venues haven't been decided yet. The Ranji Trophy league matches are played on home-away basis, alternating from where the two participating teams had played their previous match.