The organisers of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91 that is one of the leading domestic cricket tournaments in India, the BCCI allowed the top two teams from each of the five zones to play in the knock out level. The top ten teams in the tournament played against each other in the knock out matches of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91 and vied for the coveted and most desired championship title. The teams included the likes of Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bombay, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Bihar, Delhi and Haryana. The teams competed in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final match of the tournament and the Haryana team eventually won the championship title by beating the Bombay team in the closely contested Final.

The Madhya Pradesh and Bombay teams played against each other in the first Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91 and the match was held at Indore from 02-05 February, 1991. The Bombay team entered into the Quarter-Finals by winning this match quite comfortably with a huge margin of 10 wickets. The second Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91 saw the teams of Maharashtra and Karnataka playing against each other at Pune from 02-05 February, 1991. Though, the match remained drawn during the stipulated duration, the match officials allowed the Karnataka team to advance to the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament.

The first Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91 was played between the teams of Bengal and Karnataka and the two teams played the match at Calcutta from 16-20 February, 1991. The drawn match allowed the Bengal team to enter into the Semi-Finals of the tournament. The teams of Hyderabad and Bihar played against each other in the second Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91. This match was held at Ranchi from 16-20 February, 1991. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials allowed the Hyderabad team to advance to the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The Delhi and Bombay teams played against each other in the third Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91 and the match took place at Delhi from 16-20 April, 1991. The Bombay team qualified for the Semi-Finals of the tournament as the match remained drawn during the stipulated duration. The last and fourth Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91 was played at Faridabad from 16-20 April, 1991 between the teams of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The match officials allowed the Haryana team to enter into the Semi-Finals of the tournament though the match remained drawn during the specified period of time.

The Bombay and Hyderabad teams played against each other in the first Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91 and the match was held at Bombay from 24-28 April, 1991. The Bombay team secured a berth in the final match of the tournament after the match remained drawn during the specified period of time. The second Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91 was played between the teams of Bengal and Haryana and the two teams played the match at Calcutta from 24-28 April, 1991. The drawn match saw the Haryana team entering into the Final and setting up a clash with the Bombay team. Thus, the teams of Haryana and Bombay locked their horns together in the Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1990-91, which was held at Bombay from 03-07 May, 1991. The match saw a very close contest between the two teams and the Haryana team eventually became successful to clinch a narrow victory of only 2 runs for winning the match as well as the championship title.