Ten teams played against each other in the knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88 and the teams were mainly the top two teams from each and every zones of the tournament. The BCCI selected the teams on the basis of their total earned points at the end of the zonal level league matches and the teams included the likes of Bengal, Baroda, Bombay, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Railways and Delhi. The teams competed with each other in the knock out matches of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88, such as the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final, with the same view of winning the prestigious Ranji Trophy title. However, the Tamil Nadu team eventually became successful to win the title by beating the Railways team in the Final of the tournament.

The teams of Uttar Pradesh and Baroda played against each other in the first Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88 and the match was held at Varanasi from 12-15 February, 1988. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials allowed the Uttar Pradesh team to advance to the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament. The second Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88 was played between the teams of Bombay and Karnataka. The match took place at Bombay from 12-15 February, 1988. The drawn match saw the Bombay team getting the required permission to compete in the Quarter-Finals of the tournament.

The match between the teams of Railways and Bihar was the first Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88 and the teams played the match at Delhi from 27 February-01 March, 1988. The drawn match saw the Railways team being allowed to advance to the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The teams of Punjab and Bengal played against each other in the second Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88 and the match was held at Chandigarh from 27 February-01 March, 1988. The Punjab team got the permission to play in the Semi-Finals of the tournament from the drawn match. The clash between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh took place in the third Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88, which was held at Madras from 29 February-03 March, 1988. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the Tamil Nadu team entered into the Semi-Finals of the tournament from the match. The last and fourth Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88 saw a clash between the two heavyweight teams of Delhi and Bombay at Delhi from 27 February-01 March, 1988. The Delhi team got the allowance to get into the Semi-Final stage of the tournament, after the match remained drawn during the stipulated duration.

The first Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88 was played between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Punjab and the match was organised at Madras from 11-14 March, 1988. The match officials allowed the Tamil Nadu to reach the Final of the tournament, once the match ended without any particular result. The teams of Delhi and Railways played against each other in the second Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88, which took place at Delhi from 11-14 March, 1988. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the Railways team entered into the Final of the tournament from the match. Thus, the Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88 saw the teams of Tamil Nadu and Railways locking their horns together at Madras from 25-30 March, 1988. The Tamil Nadu team dominated the Railways team throughout the Final match and eventually clinched a huge victory of an innings and 144 runs for winning the coveted championship title.