There were a number of 5 teams, competed against each other under the East Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86. The new team in the zone was the Tripura team and all the other 4 regular teams like Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Orissa were also playing in the tournament. All the teams were representing different states from the Eastern region of India and they tried their best to become one of the top two teams in the zone. The teams also tried hard for securing a birth in the knock out level of the tournament, however, only the teams like Bihar and Bengal could do so from the zone. The Bihar team earned 101 points and Bengal earned 73 points, at the end of the zonal level league matches.

The first of the East Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 was played between the teams of Bengal and Tripura and the two teams played the match at Calcutta from 28-30 December, 1985. The Bengal team got a very good start in the tournament, as it won this match with a huge margin of an innings and 221 runs and also earned 32 points from it. The Tripura team earned 1 point from the match, as well. The second match of the zone saw a clash between the teams of Orissa and Assam and the match was held at Balasore from 28-30 December, 1985. The Orissa team was the winner of the match with a very good margin of an innings and 35 runs and the team earned 30 points from the match. The match also saw the Assam team earning 6 points from it. The clash between the teams of Orissa and Tripura took place in the third match of the zone and the two teams played the match at Talcher from 04-06 January, 1986. The Orissa team earned 31 points from the match by clinching a victory of an innings and 19 runs and the Tripura team earned 3 points from the match, as well.

There was a match between the teams of Bihar and Assam in the fourth of the East Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86. The match was held at Ranchi from 04-06 January, 1986 and the Bihar team became the winner of the match by a margin of an innings and 84 runs. The Bihar and Assam teams earned 29 and 6 points, respectively from the match. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Bengal and Assam and the two teams played the match at Calcutta from 09-11 January, 1986. The Bengal team clinched a victory of 4 wickets for earning 28 points from the match and the Assam team also earned 9 points. The Bihar and Tripura teams then played against each other in the next match of the zone, which took place at Ranchi from 09-11 January, 1986. The winner of the match was the Bihar team with a margin of an innings and 140 runs and it also earned 32 points from the match. The earnings of the Tripura team from the match were 4 points.

The match between the teams of Orissa and Bengal was the seventh of the East Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 and the match was held at Rourkela from 15-17 January, 1986. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded both the Bengal and Orissa teams 3 points, each for the match. The next match of the zone saw a battle between the teams of Assam and Tripura and the match took place at Nowgong from 15-17 January, 1986. The match saw the Assam team winning by a good margin of 6 wickets and also earning 23 points from the match. The Tripura team earned 6 points from the match, as well. The two most powerful teams of the East Zone, Bengal and Bihar then played against each other in the next match of the zone that was played at Ranchi from 23-25 January, 1986. The drawn match saw the Bihar and Bengal teams earning 12 and 10 points, respectively from it. The last of the East Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1985-86 was played between the teams of Bihar and Orissa at Baripada from 29-31 January, 1986. The Bihar team won the match with a very good margin of 10 wickets for earning 28 points and the Orissa team earned 8 points from the match, as well.