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

MUMBAI: 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. (IANS)