The Central Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 saw the participation of 5 teams, all the regular ones that were mainly coming from the Central region of India. The Ranji Trophy has earned a lot of recognition and fame all over the world for being the premium domestic cricket tournament in India. The participating teams in the Central Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 were mainly representing different states from the Central region of India and they included the likes of Railways, Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. All the teams tried their best to claim one of the top three spots in the zone and to secure a berth in the Super League stage of the tournament. However, only the teams like Railways, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh eventually became successful to do so from the Central Zone.

The teams of Railways and Uttar Pradesh played against each other in the first of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 and the match was held at Delhi from 19-22 October, 1997. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Uttar Pradesh and Railways teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The second match of the Central Zone was played between the teams of Rajasthan and Vidarbha and the two teams played the match at Jaipur from 19-22 October, 1997. The drawn match saw the Rajasthan team earning 5 points and Vidarbha earning 3 points from it. The Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh teams met with each other in the third match of the Central Zone and the match took place at Rajnandgaon from 27-30 October, 1997. The match officials awarded both the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh teams 2 points, each for the drawn match.

The match between the teams of Vidarbha and Railways was the fourth of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 and the match was held at Nagpur from 27-30 October, 1997. The Railways and Vidarbha teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the match, as it remained drawn during the stipulated duration. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Railways and Rajasthan and the two teams played the match at Delhi from 05-08 November, 1997. The winner of the match was the Railways team with a very good margin of an innings and 1 run and the team also earned 8 points from the match. The Rajasthan team failed to earn any points from the match. Then, the teams of Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh played against each other in the next match of the Central Zone and the match was held at Nagpur from 05-08 November, 1997. The Madhya Pradesh team played wonderfully in the match to clinch a victory of 9 wickets for earning 8 points and the Vidarbha team remained pointless in the match.

The seventh of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 was played between the teams of Madhya Pradesh and Railways and the two teams played the match at Indore from 14-17 November, 1997. The Madhya Pradesh and Railways teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match. The Uttar Pradesh team then played against the Rajasthan team in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Kanpur from 14-17 November, 1997. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan teams 5 and 3 pints, respectively for the match. The teams of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh played against each other in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Jaipur from 22-25 November, 1997. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the match. The last of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 involved the teams like Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha and the two teams played the match at Allahabad from 28 November-01 December, 1997. Both the Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha teams earned 2 points, each from the drawn match.