The Central Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 was comprised of 5 teams that had been playing in the tournament for several years. The teams were coming from the Central region of India and they included the likes of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha and Railways. The teams competed with each other in the zonal level league matches first, with a view of becoming one of the two top teams in the zone. Besides, getting a promotion into the knock out level of the tournament was also another aim of the teams. The Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan teams eventually became the toppers in the zone, as they earned 70 and 67 points, respectively from the league matches. They were also the representatives of the Central Zone in the knock out level of the tournament.

The Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 started with the match between the teams of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and the two teams played the match at Indore from 17-19 November, 1985. The match was drawn during the specified period of time and the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh teams earned 9 and 5 points, respectively from the match. The second match of the zone was played between the teams of Rajasthan and Vidarbha and the match was held at Jodhpur from 17-19 November, 1985. The Rajasthan team won the match by 9 runs for earning 27 points and the Vidarbha team earned 11 points from the match, as well. The Rajasthan team then played against the Railways team in the third match of the zone and the match took place at Jaipur from 23-25 November, 1985. The winner of the match was the Rajasthan team with a huge margin of 10 wickets and the team also earned 26 points from the match. The Railways team`s earnings from the match were 5 points.

The Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh teams clashed with each other in the fourth of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 and the two teams played the match at Nagpur from 23-25 November, 1985. The Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh teams earned 13 and 10 points, respectively from the drawn match. The next match of the zone saw a clash between the teams of Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha and the clash took place at Meerut from 14-16 December, 1985. The drawn match saw the Uttar Pradesh team earning 5 points. The Madhya Pradesh and Railways teams clashed with each other in the next match of the zone, which was played at Gwalior from 14-16 December, 1985. The drawn match saw the Railways team earning 8 points and Madhya Pradesh earning 6 points, from it.

The Railways team appeared in the seventh of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 also and this time, it played against the Uttar Pradesh team at Agra from 20-22 December, 1985. The Uttar Pradesh team played wonderfully in the match for earning 26 points by clinching a victory of 9 wickets. The Railways team earned 6 points from the match, as well. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the two teams played the match at Bhinmal from 20-22 December, 1985. The Madhya Pradesh team earned 24 points from the match, by winning it with a margin of 4 wickets and the Rajasthan team earned 7 points from the match, as well. The Vidarbha and Railways teams clashed with each other in the next match of the zone, which was played at Yavatmal from 27-29 December, 1985. The drawn match saw the Vidarbha and Railways teams earning 8 and 7 points, respectively from it. The last of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 saw a clash between the teams of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan and the match was held at Allahabad from 27-29 December, 1985. The Uttar Pradesh team earned 30 points from the match, as it clinched a victory of 147 runs and the Rajasthan team earned 7 points from the match, as well.