After the completion of the league matches in all the five zones, the tournament organisers, BCCI allowed the top two teams from each zone to get promoted into the knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85. The ten teams that got the promotion to the knock out level included the likes of Delhi, Bombay, Bihar, Orissa, Railways, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Saurashtra and Karnataka. The teams played against each other in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final match of the tournament with the same aim of winning the championship title. However, it was the Bombay team that became successful to win the championship title for the second consecutive year.

The teams of Railways and Haryana played against each other in the first Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 and the match was played at Delhi from 22-25 February, 1985. Though the match remained drawn during the stipulated duration, the match officials allowed the Haryana team to advance to the Quarter- Final stage of the tournament. The second Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 involved the teams like Uttar Pradesh and Saurashtra. The teams played the match at Agra from 22-25 February, 1985 and the match saw the Uttar Pradesh team winning by a margin of 55 runs for entering into the Quarter-Finals of the tournament.

The first Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 saw a clash between the teams of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and the clash took place at Delhi from 07-10 March, 1985. The Delhi team won the match quite convincingly with a margin of an innings and 101 runs and also entered into the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The teams of Tamil Nadu and Bihar clashed with each other in the second Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85, which took place at Madras from 07-10 March, 1985. The Tamil Nadu team won the match with a very good margin of 10 wickets for entering into the Semi-Finals of the tournament. The match between the teams of Karnataka and Orissa was the third Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 and the match was held at Bangalore from 07-10 March, 1985. The Karnataka team won the match with a huge margin of 243 runs and also got the permission to play in the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The last and fourth Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 was played between the teams of Haryana and Bombay and the two teams played the match at Faridabad from 07-10 March, 1985. The Bombay team clinched a comprehensive victory of 8 wickets in the match and also entered into the Semi-Finals of the tournament.

The teams of Bombay and Tamil Nadu played against each other in the first Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85, which took place at Bombay from 23-26 March, 1985. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials allowed the Bombay team to enter into the Final of the tournament. The second Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 saw a huge clash between the teams of Karnataka and Delhi and the match as held at Bangalore from 23-26 March, 1985. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the Delhi team got the permission to play against the Bombay team in the Final of the tournament. Thus, the Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 was played between the teams of Bombay and Delhi and the two teams played the match at Bombay from 01-06 April, 1985. The Bombay team played very well in the match and beat the Delhi team with a good margin of 90 runs. The win helped the Bombay team to win the championship title of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85, for the second consecutive time.