The top two teams from each and every zone in the tournament were promoted to the knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82. The ten teams that participated in the knock out matches of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82 included the likes of Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Railways, Saurashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab and Delhi. The teams fought with each other in the knock out matches very hard for claiming the championship title. They played in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final match of the tournament, however, the Delhi team once again won the trophy by beating the Karnataka team in the Final.

The match between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh was the first Pre-Quarter-Final of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82 and the match was held at Madras from 11-14 February, 1982. The Tamil Nadu team played very well in the match and clinched a victory of 241 runs for getting into the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament. The second Pre-Quarter-Final of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82 saw a clash between the teams of Railways and Bengal and the two teams played the match at Delhi from 15-18 February, 1982. The Bengal team advanced to the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament, by winning the match with a god margin of 6 wickets.

The first Quarterfinal match of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82 was played between the teams of Karnataka and Punjab and the match took place at Bangalore from 25-27 February, 1982. The Karnataka team won the match quite comprehensively by a margin of an innings and 167 runs and reached the Semi-Finals of the tournament. The teams of Tamil Nadu and Delhi met with each other in the second Quarterfinal match of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82, which was held at Madras from 25-28 February, 1982. The closely contested match saw the Delhi team winning by a narrow margin of only 20 runs and also getting the permission to compete in the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The third Quarterfinal match of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82 involved the teams like Bombay and Bengal and the two teams played the match at Bombay from 25-28 February, 1982. The Bombay team entered into the Semi-Finals of the tournament by winning this match with a huge margin of an innings and 181 runs. The teams of Bihar and Saurashtra clashed with each other in the last and fourth Quarterfinal match of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82 at Jamshedpur from 25-28 February, 1982. Though the match was drawn during the stipulated duration, the match officials allowed the Bihar team to enter into the Semi-Final stage of the tournament.

The Bihar and Delhi teams met with each other in the first Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82 and the match was held at Jamshedpur from 11-14 March, 1982. The drawn match saw the Delhi team getting the permission of advancing to the Final match of the tournament. The second Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82 was played between the teams of Karnataka and Bombay at Bangalore from 11-14 March, 1982. The match also went on to be drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials allowed the Karnataka team to enter into the Final match of the tournament. Thus, the teams of Delhi and Karnataka locked their horns together in the in the Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1981-82 and the match took place at Delhi from 24-28 March, 1982. Though the match remained drawn during the stipulated duration, the match officials declared the Delhi team as the winner of the championship, as it was having a lead in the first innings of the Final match.