A number of 18 teams took part in the Ranji Trophy, 1941-42 that was the seventh edition of the prestigious and top class tournament of India. The teams played quite well in the tournament and it was a competitive one that gave a lot of cricketing pleasure to the Indian cricket enthusiasts. The participating teams of the tournament were Bihar, Bengal, United Province, Holkar, Southern Punjab, North West Frontier Province, Northern India, Hyderabad, Madras, Mysore, CP & Berar (Central Provinces and Berar), Bombay, Sind, Western India, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nawanagar and Baroda. The teams like Holkar and CP & Berar were playing in the tournament after a few years` gap.
The match between the teams of Bombay and Western India started the Ranji Trophy, 1941-42 and the match was held at Bombay from 08-10 November, 1941. The match was drawn during its stipulated duration period and as the Bombay team got a lead in the first innings, it was declared as the winner of the match. The teams of Holkar and United Provinces played the second match of the tournament at Indore from 08-10 November, 1941 and the United Provinces team became the winner of the drawn match for having a lead in the first innings. The third match was held between the teams of Baroda and Gujarat and it was held at Baroda from 08-10 November, 1941. The Baroda team won the drawn match, as it was leading in the first innings. The fourth match of the tournament saw a battle between the teams of Nawanagar and Maharashtra at Jamnagar from 15-17 November, 1941. The Nawanagar team played quite well in the match and eventually clinched the victory by a huge margin of 8 wickets.
In the fifth match of the Ranji Trophy, 1941-42, the teams of CP & Berar and Madras met with each other at Nagpur from 29 November-01 December, 1941. The match saw the Madras team winning by a margin of 4 wickets. The teams of Northern India and North West Frontier Province played the sixth match of the tournament at Lahore from 06-08 December, 1941. The Northern India side played extraordinary well in the match and clinched one of the biggest victory ever in the history of Ranji Trophy against the North West Frontier Province team. The Northern India team won the match by an innings and 405 runs. The seventh match of the tournament was played between the Bengal and Bihar teams at Jamshedpur from 07-09 December, 1941. The Bengal team was declared as the winner in the drawn match, as it was leading in the first innings.
The Sind and Baroda were the teams that played the eighth match of the Ranji Trophy, 1941-42 at Karachi from 06-08 December, 1941. The Sind team became successful to win the match by a margin of 8 wickets. The ninth match of the tournament saw a clash between the teams of Northern India and Southern Punjab at Lahore from 27-29 December, 1941 and Northern India won the match by 74 runs. There was a clash between the teams of Sind and Bombay in the tenth match of the tournament that was held at Bombay from 29-31 December, 1941. The Bombay team defeated the Sind team in the drawn match on the basis of having a lead in the first innings. The next match involved the teams of Mysore and Bombay that played the match at Bangalore from 31 December, 1941 - 02 January, 19942. In this match, the Mysore team got a hardly fought win of 22 runs.
The last match of the group level of the Ranji Trophy, 1941-42 saw a clash between the United Provinces and Bengal teams at Benaras from 10-12 January, 1942. Bengal team won the drawn match on the basis of having a lead in the first innings and the win helped it to enter into the Final of the tournament. Bengal met the Mysore team in the first Semi-Final of the Ranji Trophy, 1941-42 at Calcutta from 31 January-03 February, 1942. However, the Bengal could not win the match and Mysore won it by 17 runs, in spite of Bengal tried very hard. The teams of Northern India and Bombay clashed in the second Semi-Final of the tournament at Lahore from 13-16 February, 1942. The match saw the Bombay team winning by a big margin of 7 wickets and entering into the Final. Playing against the Mysore team in the Final at Bombay from 07-09 March, 1942, the Bombay team shown some wonderful performances and dominated their opponents throughout the match. Bombay became successful to beat the Mysore team by a huge margin of an innings and 281 runs in the Final and thus, it became the Champions of the Ranji Trophy, 1941-42.