The East Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 comprised of all the 5 regular teams that had been playing in the tournament for the previous several editions. The Ranji Trophy is quite famous for being one of the most popular domestic cricket tournaments in India. The teams were representing various states from the Eastern region of India and they included the likes of Tripura, Assam, Orissa, Bihar and Bengal. The teams played against each other in the zonal level league matches with the same objective of becoming one of the top three teams in the zone. The teams also tried their best to get a chance for playing in the Super League stage of the tournament, by earning the highest points from the zonal level league matches. However, only the teams like Bihar, Bengal and Orissa could eventually do so from the East Zone.

The East Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 started with the match between the teams of Assam and Tripura and the two teams played the match at Guwahati from 06-09 November, 1997. The Assam team got a very good start in the tournament, as it won this match with a good margin of 6 wickets to earn 8 points. The Tripura team failed to earn any points from the match. The Orissa and Bengal teams played against each other in the second match of the zone and the match took place at Balasore from 06-09 November, 1997. The Bengal team earned 8 points from the match by clinching a victory of 8 wickets and the Orissa team remained pointless in the match. The next match of the zone was played between the teams of Bihar and Assam and the match was held at Jamshedpur from 14-17 November, 1997. The Bihar team played very well in the match to clinch a victory of 119 runs and it also earned 8 points from the match. However, the Assam team failed to earn any points from the match.

The teams of Bihar and Bengal played against each other in the fourth of the East Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 and the match was held at Jamshedpur from 22-25 November, 1997. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Bengal and Bihar teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The teams of Orissa and Assam were involved in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Cuttack from 22-25 November, 1997. The match saw the Orissa team winning by a very good margin of an innings and 234 runs to earn 8 points and it also saw the Assam team remaining pointless. The Orissa team appeared in the next match of the zone also and this time it played against the Tripura team at Cuttack from 17-20 December, 1997. The drawn match saw the Orissa team earning 5 points and Tripura earning 3 points from it.

In the seventh of the East Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98, the teams of Orissa and Bihar played against each other at Cuttack from 26-29 December, 1997. The Orissa and Bihar teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the match, as it remained drawn during the specified period of time. The Tripura team then played against the Bengal team in the next match of the East Zone and the two teams played the match at Agartala from 26-29 December, 1997. The match also remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the Bengal and Tripura teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the match. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Bengal and Assam and the match was held at Calcutta from 03-06 January, 1998. The drawn match saw the Assam and Bengal teams earning 5 and 3 points, respectively from it. The last of the East Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1997-98 was played between the teams of Tripura and Bihar and the two teams played the match at Agartala from 03-06 January, 1998. The Bihar and Tripura teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match.