The Ranji Trophy, 1953-54 was the 20th edition of the tournament and there were a number of 21 teams took part in the tournament. The teams included the likes of Andhra, Baroda, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Delhi, East Punjab, Gujarat, Holkar, Hyderabad, Madras, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mysore, Orissa, Patiala, Rajputana, Saurashtra, Services, Travancore Cochin and the Uttar Pradesh. The Patiala team was the newcomer in this edition. The tournament did attract a huge number of cricket enthusiasts to come to the cricket field and enjoy the game of cricket. The first match of the tournament was played between the teams of Mysore and Andhra at Bangalore from 28-30 November, 1953. The Mysore team won the match quite comprehensively by a huge margin of 8 wickets and started the tournament on a positive note.
The teams of Gujarat and Saurashtra played against each other in the second match of the Ranji Trophy, 1953-54 at Ahmedabad from 28-30 November, 1953 and the match was drawn during its fixed duration. However, as the Gujarat team was having a lead in the first innings, the match officials decided to declare Gujarat as the winner of the match. The match between the teams of Travancore Cochin and Hyderabad took place at Trivandrum from 28-30 November, 1953, where the Travancore Cochin won on the basis of its first innings lead. The next match between the teams of Madhya Pradesh and Holkar was also held during the same time from 28-30 November, 1953. The Holkar team played wonderfully in the match and won it by a huge margin of an innings and 245 runs. The Bengal team played a match against the Orissa team at Cuttack from 12-14 December, 1953, where it thrashed its opponents by 540 runs. Another match was played during the same time from 12-14 December, 1953 at Bombay and this match was played between the teams of Bombay and Baroda. The match saw the Bombay team winning by 8 wickets.
The next match of the Ranji Trophy, 1953-54 was held between the teams of Services and Eastern Punjab at Delhi from 18-20 December 1953 and the match was drawn during its stipulated duration. The match officials declared the Eastern Punjab team as the winner of the match for having a lead in the first innings. The newcomer team, Patiala and the Delhi team played with each other in the next match of the tournament at Patiala from 23-25 December 1953 and the match was won by Delhi with a margin of 6 wickets. After the match of Delhi-Patiala, the teams of Rajputana and Uttar Pradesh met with each other at Ajmer from 25-27 December 1953. The Rajputana team played well in the match and won it by a margin of 67 runs. The next match involved the teams of Madras and Mysore and the match was held at Madras from 25-27 December 1953. None of the teams was benefited from the match as the officials declared the match as drawn.
The tournament went on nicely and the teams of Maharashtra and Gujarat met each other for their group match at Kolhapur from 09-11 January, 1954. It was a nicely contested match and the Maharashtra team won the drawn match for having a lead in the first innings. The next match saw a battle between the teams of Eastern Punjab and Delhi at Jullundar from 18-20 January 1954.
The match saw the Eastern Punjab team winning by a good margin of 4 wickets. The teams of Madras and Travancore Cochin played the next match of the Ranji Trophy, 1953-54 at Madras from 21-23 January, 1954. The winner of the match was the Madras team with a margin of 316 runs. Bombay and Maharashtra were the teams that played in the next match of the tournament at Bombay from 23-25 January, 1954, where the Bombay team won by a huge margin of 10 wickets.
The teams of Rajputana and Holkar also played their match during the same time from 23-25 January, 1954 at Ajmer and the Holkar team did well to win the match by an innings and 200 runs. The next match saw a clash between the teams of Bihar and Bengal at Jamshedpur from 13-15 February, 1954 and the drawn match was won by the Bengal team for having a lead in the first innings. The last match of the group level of the Ranji Trophy, 1953-54 was played by the teams of Holkar and Eastern Punjab at Indore from 19-21 February, 1954. The Holkar team played extremely well in the match and won it by a huge margin of 10 wickets.
The first Semi-Final was played between the teams of Bombay and Madras at Bombay from 20-23 February, 1954. The Bombay team thrashed its opponents in the match by 379 runs to enter into the Final. In the second Semi-Final, the teams of Holkar and Bengal locked their horns together at Indore from 06-08 March, 1954 and the Holkar team just crashed the Bengal team by an innings and 315 runs for entering the Final. Thus, the Final match was played by the Bombay and Holkar team at Indore from 13-17 March, 1954 and the Bombay team won the match convincingly by 8 wickets to win the championship once again.