The Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 saw the introduction of the Super League for the first time in the history of the tournament. The Super League comprised of 3 different groups, named as the Group A, Group B and Group C. The top 15 teams from the five zones of the tournament were divided into these three groups and each of the three Super League groups comprised three teams, each. The teams like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Orissa were put into the Group A in the Super League. The Group B of the Super League comprised of the teams like Baroda, Railways, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Bengal. The Bihar, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh teams formed the Group C in the Super of the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97. All the teams gave their best efforts to get a chance for competing in the knock out level of the tournament, however, the top six teams from the three groups eventually competed with each other in the knock out level. The teams like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bengal, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad were the teams to enter into the knock out level.

The teams of Baroda and Railways played against each other in the first of the Super League matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97. The two teams were playing under the Group B in the Super League and they played the match at Vadodara from 20-23 January, 1997. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Baroda and Railways teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The second match of the Super League was played between the teams of Bihar and Mumbai and the match was held at Jamshedpur from 20-23 January, 1997. Though the two Group C teams competed hard with each other, the Mumbai team eventually clinched a victory of an innings and 14 runs for earning 8 points from the match. The Bihar team remained pointless in the match. The next match of the Super League was played between two Group B teams, the Delhi and Tamil Nadu. The two teams played the match at Delhi from 20-23 January, 1997 and the drawn match saw the Delhi and Tamil Nadu teams earning 5 and 3 points, respectively from it.

The match between the two Group C teams, Hyderabad and Haryana was the fourth of the Super League matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the match was held at Secunderabad from 20-23 January, 1997. The Hyderabad team won the match by a very good margin of an innings and 42 runs to earn 8 points and the Haryana team failed to earn any points from the match. Then, the Group A teams of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh played against each other in the next match of the Super League and the match took place at Pune from 20-23 January, 1997. The Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match. The other two Group A teams like Punjab and Kerala met with each other in the next match of the Super League and the two teams played the match at Mohali from 20-23 January, 1997. The Punjab team earned 8 points from the match by clinching a victory of 7 wickets and the Kerala team remained pointless in the match. The match between the two teams from Group B, Bengal and Baroda was the next match in the Super League and the match took place at Vadodara from 29 January - 01 February, 1997. The Baroda and Bengal teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match.

The Group C teams like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh played against each other in the eighth of the Super League matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the match was held at Faridabad from 29 January - 01 February, 1997. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The other two Group C teams, Hyderabad and Bihar then played against each other in the next match of the Super League and the match took place at Secunderabad from 29 January - 01 February, 1997. The Hyderabad and Bihar teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match. The next match of the Super League saw the two Group A teams, Maharashtra and Kerala playing against each other at Pune from 29 January - 01 February, 1997. The winner of the match was the Maharashtra team with a huge margin of 9 wickets for earning 8 points and the Kerala team remained pointless in the match. The other two Group A teams like Orissa and Madhya Pradesh then met with each other in the next match of the Super League. The match was held at Cuttack from 29-31 January, 1997 and it saw the Madhya Pradesh team winning by a margin of 118 runs. The Madhya Pradesh team also earned 8 points from the match, while the Orissa team remained pointless in the match.

The two Group B teams, Railways and Delhi teams played against each other in the 12th of the Super League matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the match was held at Delhi from 29-31 January, 1997. The Delhi team earned 8 points from the match by clinching a victory of an innings and 135 runs and the Railways team remained pointless in the match. The next match of the Super League was played between two Group C teams like Bihar and Haryana and the two teams played the match at Patna from 07-10 February, 1997. The closely contested match saw the Haryana team winning by only 24 runs to earn 8 points and it also saw the Bihar team failing to earn any points. Then, the teams of Delhi and Baroda appeared in the next match of the Super League and the Group B match was held at Delhi from 07-10 February, 1997. The match also saw a close contest between the two teams and the Delhi team eventually became successful to clinch a narrow victory of only 2 wickets to earn 8 points from the match. However, the Baroda team failed to earn any points from the match.

The Group A match between the teams of Madhya Pradesh and Kerala was the next match in the Super League and the match took place at Indore from 07-10 February, 1997. The Madhya Pradesh and Kerala teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match. The 15th of the Super League matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 was also a Group A match and the match was played between the teams of Punjab and Orissa. The two teams played the match at Mohali from 07-10 February, 1997. The match remained drawn during the specified period of time and the match officials awarded the Punjab and Orissa teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The two Group B teams, Bengal and Tamil Nadu played against each other in the next match of the Super League and match was held at Chennai from 07-10 February, 1997. The drawn match saw the Tamil Nadu team earning 5 points and Bengal earning 3 points from it. The Group C match between the teams of Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai was also held during the same timing from 07-10 February, 1997 and the two teams played the match at Lucknow. The Mumbai team won the match by a good margin of 8 wickets for earning 8 points and the Uttar Pradesh team remained pointless in the match.

The Group B teams like Bengal and Delhi played against each other in the 18th of the Super League matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the match took place at Calcutta from 16-19 February, 1997. The Bengal team played very well in the match for clinching a victory of 168 runs to earn 8 points and the Delhi team remained pointless in the match. The next match of the Super League was a Group C match, as the teams of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh met with each other at Jamshedpur from 16-19 February, 1997. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Bihar and Uttar Pradesh teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The next match of the Super League was also a Group C match and the match involved the teams like Hyderabad and Mumbai. The teams played the match at Secunderabad from 16-19 February, 1997 and the match was won by the Mumbai team with a margin of an innings and 82 runs. The Mumbai team earned 8 points from the match; however, the Hyderabad team could not earn any points from the match. The Group A teams like Maharashtra and Punjab played against each other in the next match of the zone and the teams played the match at Pune from 16-19 February, 1997. The drawn match saw the Maharashtra and Punjab teams earning 5 and 3 points, respectively from it.

The Orissa and Kerala teams appeared in the 22nd of the Super League matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 and the Group A match was held at Cuttack from 16-19 February, 1997. The Kerala and Orissa teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the match, as it remained drawn during the specified period of time. Then, the Group B teams like Railways and Tamil Nadu played against each other in the next match of the Super League and the match took place at Delhi from 16-19 February, 1997. The Railways team played very well in the match and clinched a victory of an innings and 65 runs for earning 8 points and the Tamil Nadu team remained pointless in the match. The Railways team appeared in the next match of the Super League also and this time, it played against the Bengal team at Calcutta from 25-28 February, 1997. The Railways and Bengal teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match. The Group C teams like Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh appeared in the next match of the Super League, which was held at Secunderabad from 25-28 February, 1997. The Uttar Pradesh team earned 5 points and Hyderabad earned 3 points from the drawn match.

The 26th match of the Super League in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 was played between the Group A teams of Madhya Pradesh and Punjab and the two teams played the match at Gwalior from 25-28 February, 1997. As the match remained drawn during the specified period of time, the match officials awarded the Madhya Pradesh and Punjab teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The next match of the Super League was a Group C match and the match involved the teams of Mumbai and Haryana. The two teams played the match at Mumbai from 25-28 February, 1997 and the Mumbai team won the closely contested match by a narrow margin of 4 wickets. The Mumbai team earned 8 points from the match and the Haryana team remained pointless in the match. The two Group A teams like Orissa and Maharashtra played against each other in the next match of the Super League and the match was held at Cuttack from 25-28 February, 1997. The Orissa and Maharashtra teams earned 5 and 3 points, respectively from the drawn match. The last of the Super League matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1996-97 was a match of the Group A and the match was played between the teams of Tamil Nadu and Baroda. The match took place at Chennai from 25-28 February, 1997 and it saw the Tamil Nadu team winning by 5 wickets to earn 8 points. However, the Baroda team could not earn any points from the match.