The Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 comprised of all the regular 27 teams that had been playing in the tournament for the previous several editions. The teams were coming from all the parts of India and they mainly represented different Indian states in the most popular domestic cricket tournament of India. The teams were divided into five different zones by the tournament organisers, BCCI and they first competed with each other in their respective zones. After that, the top three teams from each zone were promoted to the Super League stage of the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 and the teams competed for getting into the knock out level of the tournament. The top 6 teams from the Super League then advance to the knock out level of the tournament and they vied for the championship title. The participating teams in the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 included the likes of Andhra, Assam, Baroda, Bengal, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Orissa, Punjab, Railways, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Services, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and the Vidarbha.

Ranji Trophy, 1998-99, Central Zone League Matches: The Central Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 saw the participation of 5 teams, all the regular participants of the tournament, coming from the Central region of India. The Ranji Trophy has earned a lot of popularity for being the premium domestic cricket tournament in India and the Central zone teams in the tournament included the likes of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha and Railways. The teams played against each other in the zonal level league matches with a view of becoming one the top three teams in the zone. The main reason behind this view was to get a chance for competing in the Super League stage of the tournament. Among all the teams in the Central Zone, only the teams like Madhya Pradesh, Railways and Rajasthan eventually entered into the Super League stage. The Madhya Pradesh, Railways and Rajasthan teams earned total of 18, 17 and 16 points, respectively from the zonal level league matches.

Ranji Trophy, 1998-99, East Zone League Matches: The 5 teams that played against each other under the East Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 were playing in the tournament for the previous several editions. The regular participating teams of the premium domestic cricket tournament in India were mainly representing different states from the Eastern region of India. The teams included the likes of Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Orissa and Bihar and all of them tried their best to become one of the top three teams in the zone. The teams also gave their best efforts to secure a berth in the Super League stage of the tournament, however, only the teams like Bengal, Orissa and Bihar could do so from the zone. The Bengal, Orissa and Bihar teams earned a total of 26, 21 and 19 points, respectively from the zonal level league matches to get into the Super League stage of the tournament.

Ranji Trophy, 1998-99, North Zone League Matches: The North Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 comprised of 6 teams and all the teams were mainly coming from the Northern region of India. The teams were the regular participants of the most popular domestic cricket tournament in India and they included the likes of Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Services, Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The teams competed with each other in the zonal level league matches very hard with a view to claim one of the top three spots in the zone. They also tried their best to secure a berth in the Super League stage of the tournament. However, the teams like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana eventually became successful to do so from the zone, with total of 34, 32 and 22 points, respectively from the league matches.

Ranji Trophy, 1998-99, South Zone League Matches: 6 teams participated under the South Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 and most of the teams were representing different states from the Southern region of India. All the teams in the zone had been playing in the most popular and fruitful domestic cricket tournament in India, on a regular basis for the previous several editions. The teams included the likes of Goa, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Andhra, Kerala and Karnataka and all of them gave their best efforts to become one of the top three teams in the zone. The teams also tried their best to secure a berth in the Super League stage of the tournament. However, the teams like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad eventually became successful to enter into the Super League stage of the Ranji Trophy, as they earned the highest points from the zonal level league matches. The Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad teams earned total of 29, 27 and 24 points, respectively, at the end of the zonal level league matches.

Ranji Trophy, 1998-99, West Zone League Matches: The West Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 saw the participation of 5 teams in it and all the teams were coming from the Western region of India. The teams were also the regular participants in the most prestigious domestic cricket tournament in India and they included the likes of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Saurashtra, Mumbai and Baroda. The zone saw all the teams trying hard to become one of the top three teams in the zone so that they could advance to the Super League stage of the tournament. However, the teams like Baroda, Saurashtra and Maharashtra eventually became the representatives of West Zone in the Super League stage. The Baroda, Saurashtra and Maharashtra teams earned total of 22, 18 and 17 points, respectively from the zonal level league matches for entering into the Super League stage.

Ranji Trophy, 1998-99, Super League Matches: The Super League stage of the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 saw the participation of the top 15 teams from all the five zones of the tournament. The Ranji Trophy is considered to be the most popular and premium domestic cricket tournament in India. The 15 teams that played in the Super League stage of the tournament included the top three teams from each of the zones. The teams included the likes of Bengal, Baroda, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Saurashtra, Haryana, Railways, Orissa, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad. All the teams gave their best efforts to become one of the top six teams in the Super League stage, as only the top six teams were allowed to participate in the knock out level of the tournament. The teams like Hyderabad, Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka eventually became successful to enter into the knock out level of the tournament and they competed with each other for the coveted championship title.

Ranji Trophy, 1998-99, Knock out Matches: After the completion of the Super League stage of the tournament, the top sic teams form the stage got the promotion to the Knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99. The teams included the likes of Hyderabad, Delhi, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka and the teams played against each other in the knock out matches of the Ranji Trophy, 1998-99 like the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final. The teams fought with each other very hard for clinching the coveted championship title. However, though all the teams tried their best to do so, it was the Karnataka team that eventually won the championship title by beating the Madhya Pradesh team in the Final.