For their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan, who have also won the title 16 times, the Durand Cup will be an ideal preparatory ground for the I-League, where they finished runners-up last year.

Groupings:

Group I: Churchill Brothers, Sporting Clube de Goa and Assam Rifles.

Group II: Mohun Bagan, JCT and ONGC.

Group III: Dempo, Air India and Army XI.

Group IV: East Bengal, Mahindra United and Lajong FC.

Fixtures:

Sep 11: Army XI vs Air India;

Sep 12: Sporting Clube de Goa vs. Assam Rifles;

Sep 13: JCT vs ONGC;

Sep 14: Mahindra vs Lajong, Dempo vs Air India;

Sep 15: Sporting Clube vs Churchill;

Sep 16: Mohun Bagan vs ONGC; East Bengal vs Lajong;

Sep 17: Churchill vs Assam Rifles, Dempo vs Army XI;

Sep 18: East Bengal vs Mahindra, Mohun Bagan vs JCT.

Sep 18: Semi-final (Winners Group I vs Winners Group III)

Sep 19: Semi-final (Winners Group II vs Winners Group IV)

Sep 22: Final