There were a large number of 24 teams participated in the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 and the tournament was played with great enthusiasm and also on high cricketing spirit. The organisers of the tournament, BCCI selected the teams from all the parts of India and it also divided the teams into five different zones. The zones were made on the basis of their geographical position and the best two teams from every zone also participated in the knock out level of the tournament, at a later stage. The participating teams in the tournament included the likes of Andhra, Assam, Baroda, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Railways, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Services, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and the Vidarbha.

Ranji Trophy 1984-85, Central Zone League Matches: 5 teams competed against each other under the Central Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85. The teams were mainly representing different states from the Central region of India and all of them were the regular participants of the tournament. Though all the teams tried their best to become one of the top two teams in the zone, only the teams like Uttar Pradesh and Railways eventually became successful to do so. The Uttar Pradesh and Railways teams earned total 90 and 48 points, respectively from the zonal level league matches and they also entered into the knock out level of the tournament from the Central Zone.

Ranji Trophy 1984-85, East Zone League Matches: The East Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 saw the participation of all the 4 regular teams, including the likes of Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Orissa. The teams were hailing from the Eastern region of India and they had been playing in the tournament on a regular in the previous several editions. The teams played against each other in the zonal level league matches with a view to become one of the top two teams in the zone. Securing a birth in the knock out level of the tournament was also another principal aim of the teams, however, only the teams like Orissa and Bihar could achieve the aim. The Orissa and Bihar teams earned total 46 and 44 points, respectively, at the end of the zonal level league matches.

Ranji Trophy 1984-85, North Zone League Matches: The North Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85 was comprised of a number of 5 teams, all the regular participants in the tournament. The teams were representing the Northern region of India and they included the likes of Services, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. All the teams played with great enthusiasm and cricketing expertise and they tried their best to become one of the top two teams in the zone. The teams also tried hard to get a chance for competing into the knock out level of the tournament. However, the teams like Delhi and Haryana eventually became successful to get into the knock out level, as they earned total of 76 and 68 points, respectively from the zonal level league matches.

Ranji Trophy 1984-85, South Zone League Matches: Five teams played against each other under the South Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85. All the teams were coming from the Southern region of India and they were actually representing different states form that region. The teams included the likes of Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Hyderabad and they were also the regular participants in the tournament. In an endeavour to become one of the two teams in the zone and also to get a promotion to the knock out level of the tournament, the teams gave their best efforts. However, only the teams like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu could do so from the South Zone. The Karnataka team earned a total of 91 points and Tamil Nadu earned 78 points, at the end of the zonal level league matches.

Ranji Trophy 1984-85, West Zone League Matches: All the five regular teams that had been playing in the tournament for the previous several editions, took part under the West Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85, as well. The teams were selected from the Western region of India and most of them were representing different states from that region. The teams included the likes of Baroda, Saurashtra, Bombay, Gujarat and Maharashtra and all of them vied for the top spot in the zone. The main reason behind the teams` this endeavour was that the tournament organisers, BCCI would allow only the top two teams from each zone to compete in the knock out level of the tournament. The teams of Bombay and Saurashtra became the toppers in the zone with total points of 74 and 49, respectively and they also competed with the top teams form the other zones in the knock out level, for the championship title.

Ranji Trophy 1984-85, Knock out Matches: After the completion of the league matches in all the five zones, the tournament organisers, BCCI allowed the top two teams from each zone to get promoted into the knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 1984-85. The ten teams that got the promotion to the knock out level included the likes of Delhi, Bombay, Bihar, Orissa, Railways, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Saurashtra and Karnataka. The teams played against each other in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final match of the tournament with the same aim of winning the championship title. However, it was the Bombay team that became successful to win the championship title for the second consecutive year.