The teams like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Railways and Vidarbha took part in the tournament under the Central Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79. The teams were representing different states from the Central India and they played against each other in the zonal level for becoming one of the top two teams in the zone. They also tried hard to secure a birth in the knock out level of the tournament, however, only the teams like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh became successful to do so from the Central Zone.

The first of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79 was played between the teams of Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha at Bilaspur from 25-27 November, 1978. The match earned the Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha teams 5 and 3 points, respectively, as it remained drawn during the stipulated duration. The second match of the zone saw a battle between the teams of Vidarbha and Rajasthan at Rajasthan from 01-03 December, 1978. The match was declared as abandoned without even a single ball was bowled and the Rajasthan and Vidarbha teams earned 2 points each from the match. The teams of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh took part in the third match of the zone and the match was held at Kota from 08-10 December, 1978. The drawn match saw the Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan teams earning 5 and 3 points, respectively from it.

The match between the teams of Rajasthan and Railways was the fourth of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79 and the two teams played the match at Bikaner from 14-16 December, 1978. The Rajasthan team showed a very good performance in the match and won it by a god margin of 8 wickets for earning 8 valuable points from it. There was a clash between the teams of Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Nagpur from 15-17 December, 1978. The winner of the match was the Uttar Pradesh team with a margin of an innings and 40 runs and the team earned 8 points from the match, as well. The next match of the zone saw a clash between the teams of Railways and Madhya Pradesh at Delhi from 19-21 December, 1978. The Madhya Pradesh team beat the Railways team by a narrow margin of only 17 runs in the closely contested match and also earned 8 points from it.

The Railways team appeared in the next match of the zone as well and this time, it played against the Vidarbha team at Delhi from 24-26 December, 1978. The drawn match saw the Railways team earning 5 points and Vidarbha earning 3 points from it. The match between the teams of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh was the eighth of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79. The match was held at Lakhmipur Kheri from 25-27 December, 1978 and it was drawn during the specified period of time. The match officials awarded the Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match. The Uttar Pradesh team then played against the Railways team in the next match of the zone and the match took place at Agra from 31 December, 1978 - 02 January, 1979. The Uttar Pradesh team clinched a victory of 107 runs for earning 8 points from the match. The last of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1978-79 saw a battle between the teams of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan at Gwalior from 06-08 January, 1979. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan teams 5 and 3 points, respectively for the match.