The Ranji Trophy, 1979-80 was played with great enthusiasm and cricketing sprit and there were a large number of 24 teams took part in this edition of the tournament. The organisers of the tournament, the BCCI selected the teams from all the parts of India and the teams were representing both different states and services teams in India. The teams were divided into five different zones and they played against each other in the zonal level first. After the zonal level matches were played, the top two teams from each of the zones got promoted to the knock out level of the tournament and competed against each other for the championship title. The teams that participated in the tournament included the likes of Andhra, Assam, Baroda, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Railways, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Services, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and the Vidarbha.

Ranji Trophy 1979-80, Central Zone League Matches: The Central Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1979-80 saw a number of 5 teams playing against each other in the zonal level and all the teams were from the Central region of India. The teams included the likes of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Vidarbha, Uttar Pradesh and Railways and they tried their best to become one of the top two teams in the zone. Securing a birth in the knock out level of the tournament was also one of the principal objectives of the teams and the teams like Madhya Pradesh and Railways eventually became successful to do so from the zone.

Ranji Trophy 1979-80, East Zone League Matches: The East Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1979-80 was comprised of a number of 4 teams that were the regular ones, coming from the Eastern region of India. The teams included the likes of Bengal, Orissa, Assam and Bihar and they played against each other in the zonal level first with an objective to become one of the toppers in the zone. The main reason behind their this objective was that, the tournament organisers would allow only the top two teams from every zone to get into the knock out level of the tournament. The top teams competed against each other in the knock out level tournament for the championship title. The teams like Bengal and Bihar were the teams that entered into the knock out level from the East Zone.

Ranji Trophy 1979-80, North Zone League Matches: There were a number of 5 teams played against each other under the North Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1979-80 and the teams included the likes of Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Services. The teams were the regular participants in the tournament and all of them were representing the Northern region of India in the tournament. With a view to claim the top spot in the zone and also to secure a birth in the knock out level of the tournament, the teams fought with each other very hard in the zonal level. However, only the teams like Delhi and Haryana became successful to do so from the North Zone and they competed against the top teams of the other zones in the knock out level for the championship title.

Ranji Trophy 1979-80, South Zone League Matches: All the 5 regular teams that had been participating in the tournament for the previous several editions, took part under the South Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1979-80, as well. The teams were selected from the Southern region of India and they included the likes of Andhra, Hyderabad, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. All the teams had the same aim of becoming one of the top two teams in the zone and also getting a chance in the knock out level of the tournament. However, only the teams like Hyderabad and Tamil Nadu eventually became successful to achieve this aim and entered into the knock out level from the South Zone.

Ranji Trophy 1979-80, West Zone League Matches: There was no change in the team list of the West Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1979-80, as all the regular 5 teams of the zone took part in this edition of the tournament. The teams included the likes of Bombay, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Saurashtra and Baroda and they tried their best to claim the top spot in the zone. However, the teams like Bombay and Maharashtra eventually became the toppers in the zone. They also went on to compete with the top teams of the other zones in the knock out level of the tournament, for the championship title.

Ranji Trophy 1979-80, Knock out Matches: The top two teams from each of the five zones got promoted to the knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 1979-80 and the teams included the likes of Bengal, Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Bombay, Bengal, Delhi, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. The teams played against each other in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final match of the tournament and all of them tried their best to win the championship title. However, the Delhi team became successful to win the championship trophy for the consecutive second year.