The Duleep Trophy came back to its original knock-out format in Duleep Trophy, 1996-97, after being played on a league format for a few editions. The organisers of the tournament, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took the decision of reverting to the knock out format from this edition, as there was some confusion regarding the league format. The Duleep Trophy, 1996-97 saw all the five regular participating zonal teams playing against each other for winning the championship title. The teams were selected by BCCI mainly from five different geographical locations of India and they were named as the Central Zone, East Zone, West Zone, North Zone and South Zone. All the teams had the same objective of winning the championship title in Duleep Trophy, 1996-97 and as a result, they made the tournament a highly competitive one. The cricket enthusiasts of India also liked the tournament very well, as they enjoyed some closely contested matches in the tournament.

The teams of North Zone and East Zone played against each other in the first match of Duleep Trophy, 1996-97 and the two teams played the match at Delhi from 20-24 November, 1996. The East Zone captain, U Chatterjee won the toss and took the decision of batting first in the match. The East Zone batsmen played well and scored a moderate total of 276 runs in their first innings. R Sanghvi took 5 wickets for 45 runs on behalf of North Zone in East Zone`s first innings. In reply to the first innings total of East Zone, the North Zone batsmen batted extraordinarily and scored a mammoth total of 506 runs in their first innings. The two famous batsmen, V Dahiya (134) and R Nayyar (108) scored two wonderful centuries for North Zone. U Chatterjee took 6 wickets for 115 runs on behalf of East Zone in North Zone`s first innings. Trailing by a huge margin of 230 runs, the East Zone batsmen played wonderfully and scored 472 runs in their second innings. Though, the North Zone team needed 243 runs in the second innings to win the match, the team could not do so, as the match`s stipulated duration ended when North Zone reached the score of 91-2. The North Zone team won the math for having a lead in the first innings and entered into the Semi-Finals of Duleep Trophy, 1996-97.

The Central Zone and West Zone teams played against each other in the first Semi-Final of Duleep Trophy, 1996-97 and the match was held at Delhi from 27 November-01 December, 1996. Winning the toss, the Central Zone skipper, C Pandit took the decision of batting first in the match. He got wonderful support from his batsmen for the decision, as the Central Zone batsmen scored a mammoth total of 503 runs in their first innings. The captain, C Pandit led his team from the front by playing a magnificent century knock of 189 runs. R Sapru also played well to score 85 runs for Central Zone in the first innings. The West Zone batsmen could not bat well while replying to the mammoth first innings total of Central Zone and they got all out for a moderate score of 244 runs in their first innings. The opener and skipper, S Bhave became the top scorer for his team with 75 runs to his name and he got good support from H Parsana, who scored 52 runs. M Kamal bowled brilliantly for Central Zone and took 7 wickets for 74 runs in West Zone`s first innings. Leading by a huge margin of 259 runs in the first innings, the Central Zone batsmen played wonderfully in their second innings also and scored yet another mammoth total of 500 runs for only 3 wickets. Four of the Central Zone batsmen like A Khurasiya (126), G Khoda (124), R Shamshad (120) and R Sapru (100) scored centuries for Central Zone and contributed to the team`s huge total. However, the stipulated duration of the match ended when West Zone reached the score of 280-8 in the second innings, while chasing a target of 760 runs to win. Thus, Central Zone became the winner of the match for having a lead in the first innings and the team also reached the Final of Duleep Trophy, 1996-97.

The second Semi-Final of Duleep Trophy, 1996-97 was played between the teams of North Zone and South Zone and the match took place at Faridabad from 27 November-01 December, 1996. The toss of the match was won by the North Zone captain, N Sidhu and he took the decision of batting first in the match. The North Zone batsmen played well and scored a good total of 344 runs in their first innings. The opener, V Rathour became the top scorer for North Zone with a huge 150 runs to his name and A Sharma gave good support to him by scoring 80 runs. The South Zone batsmen could not play that much well in their first innings and they got all out for a score of 286 runs. The skipper, R Singh got the highest individual score of 84 runs in South Zone`s first innings and M Prasad also scored 60 runs for his team. Playing with a lead of 58 runs in the first innings, the North Zone batsmen scored a wonderful total of 332 runs in the second innings. Thus, the North Zone team set a target of 391 runs in the second innings for South Zone to win the match. The South Zone batsmen showed a magnificent batting display in their second innings and they successfully achieved the huge target and scored 393 runs for 5 wickets. S Ramesh remained unbeaten on a score of 143 runs and S Sharath scored 140 runs for contributing the most in South Zone`s second innings. Thus, the South Zone team entered into the Final of Duleep Trophy, 1996-97 by winning this match with a good margin of 5 wickets.

The Central Zone and South Zone teams were involved in the Final of Duleep Trophy, 1996-97 and the two teams played the match at Mohali from 04-08 December, 1996. The South Zone team fielded first in the match, as its captain, C Pandit decided so after winning the toss. Being put into bat first by the opponent captain, the Central Zone batsmen played well and scored a moderate total of 264 runs in their first innings. The opener, G Khoda became the top scorer for Central Zone by playing a good knock of 72 runs. B Ramprakash picked up 5 wickets for 85 runs on behalf of South Zone in Central Zone`s first innings. While replying to the first innings total of Central Zone, the South Zone batsmen batted well and scored a good total of 225 runs, though failed to surpass the opponent`s first innings total. Leading by a huge margin of 39 runs in the first innings, the Central Zone batsmen played wonderfully and scored a huge total of 359 runs in their second innings. R Sapru played extraordinarily to score 161 runs for Central Zone in the second innings. Chasing a huge target of 399 runs to win, the South Zone batsmen faced a lot of troubles and eventually got all out for a moderate score of 237 runs in their second innings. Thus, the Central Zone team won the match with a good margin of 161 runs and also clinched the championship title in Duleep Trophy, 1996-97.