The teams that participated under the West Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 included the likes of Baroda, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Saurashtra. The Ranji Trophy is quite famous to be the premium domestic cricket tournament in India and all the West Zone participating teams were the regular participants of the tournament. Most of the teams were representing different states from the Western region of India and they played against each other in the zonal level for becoming one of the top three teams in the zone. The teams also gave their best efforts to secure a berth in the Super League stage of the tournament. However, only the teams like Mumbai, Baroda and Maharashtra eventually became successful to do so from the zone, as they earned the highest points from the zonal level league matches.

The first of the West Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 was played between the teams of Baroda and Saurashtra and the two teams played the match at Vadodara from 27-30 October, 1996. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Baroda and Saurashtra teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The Mumbai team played against the Gujarat team in the second match of the zone and the match was held at Mumbai from 27-30 October, 1996. The Mumbai team played wonderfully in the match for clinching a victory of an innings and 190 runs to earn 8 points and the Gujarat team remained pointless in the match. The third match of the zone saw the teams of Maharashtra and Gujarat playing against each other at Pune from 04-07 November, 1996. The winner of the match was the Maharashtra team with a good margin of an innings and 70 runs and the team also earned 8 points from the match. However, the Gujarat team failed to earn any points from the match.

The Saurashtra team played against the Mumbai team in the fourth of the West Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the match was organised at Rajkot from 04-07 November, 1996. The drawn match saw the Mumbai team earning 5 points and Saurashtra earning 3 points from it. The Gujarat and Baroda teams the played against each other in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Ahmedabad from 12-15 December, 1996. The match was won by the Baroda team with a very good margin of an innings and 105 runs for earning 8 points and the Gujarat team remained pointless in the match. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Maharashtra and Mumbai and the match was held at Pune from 12-15 December, 1996. The Mumbai and Maharashtra teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the match, as it remained drawn during the stipulated duration.

The teams of Mumbai and Baroda played against each other in the seventh of the West Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the match was held at Mumbai from 20-22 December, 1996. The match saw the Mumbai team winning by a huge margin of 9 wickets for earning 8 points and the Baroda team failed to earn any points from the match. The Saurashtra and Maharashtra teams then met with each other in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Rajkot from 20-23 December, 1996. The Maharashtra team earned 8 points from the match by clinching a victory of an innings and 27 runs and the Saurashtra team remained pointless in the match. The Maharashtra team appeared in the next match of the zone also and this time, it played against the Baroda team at Vadodara from 28-31 December, 1996. The drawn match saw the Maharashtra and Baroda teams earning 5 and 3 points, respectively from it. The last of the West Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 involved the teams like Gujarat and Saurashtra and the two teams played the match at Ahmedabad from 28-31 December, 1996. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the Saurashtra and Gujarat teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the match.