The Central Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 comprised of 5 teams mainly represented different states from the Central region of India. The tournament is well known to be the most fruitful domestic cricket tournament in India. All the teams had been participating in the tournament on a regular basis for the previous several editions and they included the likes of Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Railways. The teams played against each other first in the zonal level league matches, with a view to become one of the top three teams in the zone and then the three toppers proceeded to the knock out level of the tournament. However, the teams like Madhya Pradesh, Railways and Uttar Pradesh eventually became successful to enter into the Super League stage of the tournament.

The Madhya Pradesh and Railways teams played against each other in the first of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the two teams played the match at New Delhi from 22-25 October, 1996. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Madhya Pradesh and Railways teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The second match of the zone was played between the teams of Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh and the match was held at Nagpur from 22-25 October, 1996. The drawn match saw both the Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh teams earning 2 points, each from it. The teams of Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha then played against each other in the third match of the zone and the match took place at Indore from 30 October-02 November, 1996. The Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha teams earned 3 points, each from the drawn match.

The Vidarbha team appeared in the fourth of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 also and this time, it played against the Railways team at Delhi from 07-10 November, 1996. The Railways team played very well in the match and clinched a victory of 110 runs for earning 8 points. The Vidarbha team failed to earn any points from the match. The Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan teams met with each other in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Bhilai from 07-10 November, 1996. The match saw the Madhya Pradesh team winning by a margin of an innings and 17 runs to earn 8 points and it also saw the Rajasthan team remaining pointless. The Rajasthan team then played against the Uttar Pradesh team in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Jaipur from 30 November-03 December, 1996. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the match.

The match between the teams of Railways and Rajasthan was the seventh of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the two teams played the match at Jaipur from 16-19 December, 1996. None of the teams could clinch a win in the match and the drawn match saw the Rajasthan and Railways teams earning 5 and 3 points, respectively from it. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and the match took place at Kanpur from 16-19 December, 1996. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The Uttar Pradesh team then played against the Railways team in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Kanpur from 24-27 December, 1996. The Railways team earned 5 points and Uttar Pradesh earned 3 points from the drawn match. The last of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 was played between the teams of Vidarbha and Rajasthan and the two teams played the match at Nagpur from 24-27 December, 1996. The Rajasthan and Vidarbha teams earned 5 and 36 points, respectively from the match, as it remained drawn during the specified period of time.