The Ranji Trophy, 1956-57 also saw the same number of participants as the previous year and there were a number of 22 teams took part in the tournament. The teams that participated in the tournament included the likes of Andhra, Assam, Baroda, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Delhi, Eastern Punjab, Gujarat, Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Madhya Bharat, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Mysore, Orissa, Pepsu, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Services, Travancore Cochin and the Uttar Pradesh. The team of Pepsu was the newcomer in the tournament that replaced the Patiala team in the team list. The first match of the tournament involved the teams of Maharashtra and Saurashtra and the teams played the match at Khadakvasla from 24-26 November, 1956. The Maharashtra team played very well in the match and won it by a huge margin of an innings and 161 runs.
In the second match of the tournament, the teams of Bombay and Gujarat played against each other at Bombay from 08-11 December, 1956. The match was drawn during the specified duration and the Bombay team became the winner on the basis of its fist innings lead. The next match of the Ranji Trophy, 1956-57 saw the teams of Delhi and Eastern Punjab competing with each other at Delhi from 08-11 December, 1956, where the Delhi team clinched a victory of 9 wickets. Madras and Hyderabad were the teams that played the next match at Salem from 14-17 December, 1956 and the drawn match saw the Madras team winning on the basis of its first innings lead. Then, the two teams of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh met with each other at Banaras from 15-17 December, 1956, where the Uttar Pradesh team won by a huge margin of 9 wickets.
The next match of the Ranji Trophy, 1956-57 involved the teams of Bihar and Orissa at Jamshedpur from 22-25 December, 1956 and the drawn match was won by the Bihar team for having a lead in the first innings. The Madhya Bharat team played one of its group matches against the Rajasthan team at Indore from 22-24 December, 1956, where it was defeated by the Rajasthan team by an innings and 319 runs. The teams of Andhra and Travancore Cochin clashed with each other at Guntur from 12-15 January, 1957 and the match saw the Andhra team winning by 7 wickets. Then, the Services team played a match against the newcomer team, Pepsu at Delhi from 13-16 January, 1957 and the winner of the match was the Services team with a margin of 46 runs. The match between the teams of Maharashtra and Baroda took place at Nasik from 18-21 January, 1957 and the Maharashtra team was declared as the winner of the drawn match, as it was leading in the first innings.
The tournament went on smoothly by increasing the attractions of the cricket enthusiasts to it and the next match of the Ranji Trophy, 1956-57 saw a clash between Assam and Bengal teams. The match was held at Jorhat from 26-29 January, 1957 and the Bengal team won the match quite convincingly with a huge margin of an innings and 206 runs. The Andhra and Mysore teams were involved in the next match of the tournament that was held at Guntur from 30 January-02 February, 1957. The closely contested match saw the Mysore team winning by a narrow margin of 2 wickets. The teams of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan met with each other at Banaras from 02-04 February, 1957, in the next match of the tournament. The match was drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials declared the Uttar Pradesh team as the winner, for having a lead in the first innings.
The next match involved the teams of Delhi and Services and it was held at Delhi from 09-12 December, 1957. The drawn match saw the Services team winning on the basis of its first innings lead. Then, the Bengal and Bihar teams met with each other at Calcutta from 09-11 February, 1957, where the Bengal team played wonderfully and became the winner by an innings and 149 runs. The next match was held between the teams of Bombay and Maharashtra at Bombay from 12-15 February, 1957 and the match saw the Bombay team winning by a huge margin of an innings and 293 runs. The Madras and Mysore teams clashed with each other at Madras from 15-18 February, 1957, where the Madras team won by a huge margin of 7 wickets. The last match of the group level of the Ranji Trophy, 1956-57 involved the teams of Uttar Pradesh and Bombay. The match was held at Maharashtra from 02-04, 1957 and it saw the Bombay team winning by an innings and 199 runs.
The Semi-Final stage of the tournament started soon and the teams of Bengal and Services played against each other in the first Semi-Final of the Ranji Trophy, 1956-57. The match was held at Calcutta from 23-26 February, 1957 and the match officials declared the match as a drawn one. However, the officials allowed the Services team to compete for the title in the Final of the tournament. The second Semi-Final saw a clash between the teams of Bombay and Madras at Bombay from 16-19 March, 1957. The Bombay team dominated the Madras team throughout the match and eventually clinched a huge victory of an innings and 323 runs. The Bombay team continued its wonderful form in the Final match against the Services team as well. The Final was held at Delhi from 29 March-01 April, 1957 and Bombay won the match convincingly by an innings and 38 runs to become the champion for the second consecutive time.