Ranji Trophy starts from Dec 7, Karnataka, Mumbai in Group A

New Delhi: The BCCI tournament committee has decided to kick start the current domestic season with the Duleep Trophy starting October 15 while the prestigious Ranji Trophy will start from December 7 and continue till March 12.

The Duleep Trophy will be a three-week affair from October 15 to November 3. With 50-over World Cup in Australia and New Zealand slated in February-March next year, the BCCI will conduct the National One Day Championship from November 7-25.

The zonal phase will be held from November 7-14 while the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the knock-out phase will be held from November 19-25. The Deodhar Trophy inter-zonal one dayers will be held between November 29-December 3.

The Ranji Trophy's group league fixtures will be held between December 7-February 8 followed by the quarter-finals between February 15-19. The two semi-finals will be held between February 25-March 1 while final will be held from March 8-12.

The Ranni Trophy will be followed by Irani Cup from March 17-21 while the zonal leg of the National T20 Championship for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy will be held between March 25-28. The final leg will be played from April 1-7. The Ranni Trophy groupings have also been done with almost all the top teams like defending champions Karnataka, 40-time champions Mumbai, formidable Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are all clubbed in the same group.

Delhi are in a relatively less tough group with notable teams being last year's runners-up Maharashtra and Punjab.

Ranji Trophy groupings

Group A: Karnataka, Bengal, Mumbai, Railways, Uttar Pradesh, Baroda, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh

Group B: Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Saurashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Vidarbha, Haryana, Odisha

Group C: Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Hyderabad, Andhra, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Services.