The Central Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 saw the participation of a number of 5 teams, all the regular participants of the tournament. The BCCI selected the teams from the Central region of India and most of them were representing different states from that region in the tournament. The participating teams in the zone included the likes of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha and Railways. The teams played against each other with the aim of claiming the top spot in the zone and also to get an entry into the knock out level of the tournament. However, only the teams like Rajasthan and Railways eventually became successful to secure a birth in the knock out level of the tournament, they earned the most of the points from the league matches. The Rajasthan team earned 54 points and Railways earned 44 points, at the end of the zonal level league matches.

The match between the teams of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan was the first of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 and the match was held at Indore from 15-17 November, 1986. The Rajasthan team won the closely contested match with a narrow margin of only 3 wickets to earn 13 points and the Madhya Pradesh team also earned 6 points from the match. The second match of the zone was played between the teams of Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh and the two teams played the match at Nagpur from 15-17 November, 1986. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh teams 13 and 8 points, respectively for the match. The Vidarbha team then played against the Rajasthan team in the third match of the zone, which was held at Nagpur from 21-23 November, 1986. The match was also a drawn one and the Vidarbha and Rajasthan teams earned 15 and 11 points, respectively from the match.

The Madhya Pradesh and Railways teams then clashed with each other in the fourth of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 and the match took place at Bhilai from 21-23 November, 1986. The Railways team played very well in the match and clinched a huge victory of 8 wickets for earning 16 points from it. The Madhya Pradesh team earned 5 points from the match, as well. The Madhya Pradesh team appeared in the next match of the zone also and this time, it played against the Uttar Pradesh team at Agra from 28-30 November, 1986. The Uttar Pradesh team played very well in the match and clinched a victory of 105 runs to earn 15 points and the Madhya Pradesh team also earned 5 points from the match. The Rajasthan and Railways teams then clashed with each other in the next match of the zone that was held at Ajmer from 28-30 November, 1986. The Rajasthan team played well in the closely contested match for earning 19 points, by clinching a narrow victory of 3 wickets. The match also saw the Railways team earning 9 points from it.

There was a clash between the teams of Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha in the seventh of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 and the match was held at Raipur from 05-07 December, 1986. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha teams 17 and 12 points, respectively for the match. The teams of Uttar Pradesh and Railways then met with each other in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Orai from 05-07 December, 1986. The drawn match saw the Railways and Uttar Pradesh teams earning 13 and 6 points, respectively from it. The Uttar Pradesh team then played against the Rajasthan team in the next match of the zone, which was held at Karoli from 10-12 January, 1987. The Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh teams earned 11 and 6 points, respectively from the match. The last of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 involved the teams like Vidarbha and Railways and the two teams played the match at Nagpur from 10-12 January, 1987. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the Railways and Vidarbha teams earned 6 and 3 points, respectively from the match.