The South Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 comprised of 6 teams and all the teams had been playing in the tournament for the past editions. The tournament has earned a lot of recognition for being one of the most popular domestic cricket tournaments in India and the South Zone teams were actually presenting different states from the Southern region of India. The teams included the likes of Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka, Hyderabad, Goa and Kerala and all the teams tried their best to become one of the top three teams in the zone. The main objective of the teams` this endeavour was to secure a berth in the Super League stage of the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the teams like Goa, Hyderabad and Kerala eventually did so from the zone. All the teams earned 19 points, each at the end of the zonal level league matches.

The South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 started with the match between the teams of Andhra and Hyderabad and the two teams played the match at Vizianagaram from 25-28 October, 1996. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time. The Goa and Karnataka teams played against each other in the second match of the zone and the match took place at Panjim from 25-28 October, 1996. The Goa team won the match by a good margin of an innings and 81 runs to earn the entire points from the match. The teams of Tamil Nadu and Kerala met with each other in the third match of the South Zone and the match was held at Thalassery from 25-28 October, 1996. The match also remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials divided the points between the two teams.

The fourth of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 also featured the Tamil Nadu team and this time, the team played against the Goa team at Margao from 03-06 November, 1996. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Tamil Nadu and Goa teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The Karnataka team then played against the Hyderabad team in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Bangalore from 03-06 November, 1996. The drawn match saw the Hyderabad team earning 5 points and Karnataka earning 3 points from it. The Hyderabad team appeared in the next match of the zone also and this time, it played against the Kerala at Hyderabad from 10-13 November, 1996. The winner of the match was the Hyderabad team with a good margin of 6 wickets for earning 8 points and the Kerala team also earned 3 points from the match.

The Kerala team appeared in the seventh of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 also and this time, it played against the Andhra team at Ukkunagaram from 17-20 November, 1996. The Kerala team played wonderfully in the match and clinched a victory of an innings and 49 runs for earning the entire points from the match. The Andhra team then played against the Goa team in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Panjim from 12-15 December, 1996. The Goa team thrashed the Andhra team with a huge margin of 10 wickets in the match to earn 8 points and the Andhra team remained pointless in the match. The match between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka was also held during the same timing from 12-15 December, 1996 and the two teams played the match at Chennai. The match officials declared the match as abandoned without even a single ball was bowled and they also awarded both the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka teams 2 points, each for the match.

The Tamil Nadu team then played against the Hyderabad team in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Secunderabad from 20-23 December, 1996. The match was the tenth of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and it remained drawn during the stipulated duration. The match officials awarded the Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The next match of the zone saw the teams of Kerala and Goa playing against each other at Palghat from 20-23 December, 1996. The Kerala team won the match with a very good margin of 7 wickets to earn 8 points from it and the Goa team failed to earn any points from the match. The next match of the zone was played between the teams of Karnataka and Andhra and the two teams played the match at Bangalore from 20-23 December, 1996. The match was won by the Karnataka team with a very good margin of 208 runs to earn 8 points and the Andhra team remained pointless in the match.

The Kerala and Goa teams played against each other in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Palakkad from 20-23 December, 1996. The winner of the match was the Kerala team with a very good margin of 7 wickets and the team also earned 8 points from the match. However, the Goa team could not earn even a single point from the match. The Tamil Nadu team then played against the Andhra team in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Chennai from 27-30 December, 1996. The Tamil Nadu team clinched a huge victory of an innings and 16 runs for earning 8 points and the Andhra team failed to earn any points from the match. The last of the South Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 was played between the teams of Hyderabad and Goa and the two teams played the match at Secunderabad from 28-31 December, 1996. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Hyderabad and Goa teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match.