Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2026: Schedule, Teams, Groups, Format and Key Players

Richa Ghosh is set to captain Bengal. | Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY

The Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2026 got underway on Monday, October 26, with the domestic women’s T20 cricket tournament running until November 20. Organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the competition will feature 37 teams across the Elite and Plate divisions, with 134 matches scheduled.

The tournament, which began in the 2008-09 season as the Senior Women’s T20 League, will enter its 18th edition this year.

Maharashtra will enter the competition as the defending Elite champion after winning its maiden title last season. It defeated Madhya Pradesh in a rain-affected final in Surat to lift the trophy.

The defending champion has been placed in Elite Group A alongside Assam, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Bengal, Goa and Jammu & Kashmir.

Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2026: Teams and Groups

Elite Group A: Maharashtra, Assam, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Bengal, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir

Elite Group B: Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Baroda, Saurashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra, Odisha

Elite Group C: Railways, Tripura, Vidarbha, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Sikkim, Kerala

Elite Group D: Delhi, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh, Pondicherry

Plate Group: Bihar, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur

Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2026: Players to Watch

India wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh is set to captain Bengal, subject to her availability, with pacer Titas Sadhu named as her deputy.

Vidarbha will feature Bharti Fulmali, who was part of India’s gold medal-winning team at the Asian Games. Kerala’s squad includes Asha Sobhana, Sajana Sajeevan and Kiran Navgire.

Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2026: Format Explained

The Elite division comprises four groups, with three groups featuring eight teams each and the fourth containing seven.

The top two teams from each Elite group will qualify for the Super League. The eight qualifiers will be divided into two groups of four, with each team playing three matches.

The two group winners will meet in the Elite final on November 20 to decide the champion.

The six Plate teams will compete in a round-robin league, with the top two advancing to the Plate final on November 4.

Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2026: Venues

The Elite group-stage matches will be held across Surat, New Chandigarh, Mohali, Lucknow and Pune. The Plate competition will take place in Sovima, Nagaland.

Ahmedabad will host the Super League matches and the Elite final.

Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2026: Promotion and Relegation

The Plate group winner will earn promotion to the Elite division for the following season. Meanwhile, the lowest-ranked team across the four Elite groups will be relegated to the Plate competition.

Senior Women’s T20 Trophy: Most Successful Teams

Railways is the most successful team in the competition’s history, with 11 titles.

Other teams to have won the trophy include Delhi, Punjab, Mumbai and Maharashtra. Mumbai claimed its maiden title in 2023 and successfully defended it in 2024, before Maharashtra won its first championship in the 2025 season.