After the completion of the zonal level league matches, the top 15 teams from all the zones got the permission of the tournament organisers to play and compete for the championship title in the knock out level of Ranji Trophy, 1995-96. The teams comprised of the top three teams from each zone and they played against each other in the knock out matches of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96, with a view to win the coveted championship title. The teams included the likes of Railways, Orissa, Karnataka, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Assam, Delhi, Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Haryana, Punjab, Baroda and Bombay. The teams took part in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final match of the tournament. Though all the teams tried their best to win the title, it was the Karnataka team that eventually became successful to win the prestigious championship title.

The first Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 was played between the teams of Railways and Orissa and the two teams played the match at Delhi from 12-16 February, 1996. The Railways team won the match with a very good margin of 9 wickets and entered into the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament. The teams of Karnataka and Bengal played against each other in the second Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 and the match was held at Bangalore from 12-16 February, 1996. The match saw the Karnataka team entering into the Quarter-Finals by clinching a victory of an innings and 29 runs. The Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu teams met with each other in the third Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 and the match took place at Indore from 12-16 February, 1996. The Tamil Nadu team advanced to the next stage of the tournament by winning the match with a margin of an innings and 11 runs.

The match between the teams of Hyderabad and Assam was the fourth Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 and the match was organised at Hyderabad from 12-16 February, 1996. The Hyderabad team played very well in the match for clinching a huge victory of 10 wickets and the team also reached the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament, with this win. The Delhi and Maharashtra teams played against each other in the fifth Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 and the two teams played the match at Delhi from 12-16 February, 1996. Though the match remained drawn during the stipulated duration, the match officials allowed the Delhi team to advance to the Quarter-Finals of the tournament. The sixth Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 saw the teams of Vidarbha and Haryana playing against each other at Nagpur from 12-16 February, 1996. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the Vidarbha team got the permission to play in the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament, from this match. The last and seventh Pre-Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 was played between the teams of Punjab and Baroda and the match was held at Mohali from 12-16 February, 1996. The drawn match saw the Baroda team getting the permission to play in the Quarter-Final stage of the tournament.

The teams of Karnataka and Baroda played against each other in the first Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 and the match was held at Bangalore from 26 February-01 March, 1996. The Karnataka team clinched a victory of an innings and 79 runs in the match and entered into the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The Tamil Nadu team then played against the Bombay team in the second Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 and the match took place at Thirunelvelli from 26 February-01 March, 1996. The match saw the Tamil Nadu team winning by a margin of 153 runs to reach the Semi-Finals of the tournament. The Hyderabad and Vidarbha teams then played against each other in the third Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96. The match was held at Hyderabad from 26 February-01 March, 1996 and the match remained drawn during the specified period of time. However, the match officials allowed the Hyderabad team to advance to the Semi-Final stage of the tournament. The last and fourth Quarter-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 was played between the teams of Delhi and Railways and the two teams played the match at Delhi from 26 February-01 March, 1996. The drawn match saw the Delhi team getting the permission for playing in the Semi-Final stage of the tournament.

The match between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Delhi was the first Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 and the two teams played the match at Chennai from 14-18 March, 1996. The Tamil Nadu team won the match by a very good margin of 8 wickets and entered into the Final of the tournament. The second Semi-Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 saw the teams of Karnataka and Hyderabad playing against each other at Bangalore from 14-18 March, 1996. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials allowed the Karnataka team to compete in the Final of the tournament. Thus, the teams of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka locked their horns together in the Final match of the Ranji Trophy, 1995-96 and the match was held at Chennai from 27-31 March, 1996. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the Karnataka team won the match and also the championship title, on the basis of its first innings lead.