Five teams competed against each other under the Central Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85. The teams were mainly representing different states from the Central region of India and all of them were the regular participants of the tournament. Though all the teams tried their best to become one of the top two teams in the zone, only the teams like Uttar Pradesh and Railways eventually became successful to do so. The Uttar Pradesh and Railways teams earned total 90 and 48 points, respectively from the zonal level league matches and they also entered into the knock out level of the tournament from the Central Zone.

The Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 started with the match between the teams of Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh and the two teams played the match at Nagpur from 15-17 December, 1984. The Uttar Pradesh team won the closely contested match with a narrow margin of only 3 wickets and earned 26 points from the match. The Vidarbha team earned 11 points from the match, as well. The Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan teams played against each other in the second match of the Central Zone and the match was held at Bhilai from 15-17 December, 1984. The Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan teams earned 8 and 5 points, respectively from the drawn match. The third match of the zone saw a clash between the teams of Vidarbha and Rajasthan and the math took place at Akola from 20-22 December, 1984. The match was a drawn one and the match officials awarded the Rajasthan and Vidarbha teams 10 and 9 points, respectively for the match.

The Railways team played against the Madhya Pradesh team in the fourth of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85. The match was played at Jhansi from 21-23 December, 1984 and the drawn match saw the Railways and Madhya Pradesh teams earning 11 and 10 points, respectively from it. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and the two teams played the match at Kanpur from 26-28 December, 1984. The match saw a see-saw battle between the two teams and it was the cool head of the Uttar Pradesh cricketers that helped them to clinch a victory with the narrowest margin of only 1 run. The win earned the Uttar Pradesh team 24 points and the Madhya Pradesh team also earned 8 points from the match. The match between the teams of Rajasthan and Railways took place in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Kota from 27-29 December, 1984. The drawn match saw the Rajasthan team earning 7 points and Railways earning 6 points from it.

The seventh of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 was played between the teams of Uttar Pradesh and Railways at Moradabad from 11-13 January, 1985. The winner of the match was the Uttar Pradesh with a margin of an innings and 67 runs and the team also earned 30 points from the match. The Railways team earned 4 points from the match, as well. The Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha teams then clashed with each other in the next match of the Central Zone, which was played at Sehore from 11-13 January, 1985. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha teams earned 13 and 10 points, respectively from it. The Vidarbha and Railways teams appeared in the next match of the zone, which took place at Nagpur from 04-06 February, 1985. Playing very well in the match, the Railways team clinched a victory of 7 wickets and earned 27 points from it. The match saw the Vidarbha team earning 9 points, as well. The last of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 saw a clash between the teams of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The match was held at Jaipur from 08-10 February, 1985 and the drawn match saw the Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan teams earning 10 and 6 points, respectively from it.