The 5 regular teams that played under the Central Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1987-88 included the likes of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Railways. Most of the teams were representing various states from the Central region of India and they played against each other in the zonal level league matches with the aim of claiming the top spot in the zone. Securing a birth in the knock out level of the tournament was also one of the principal objectives of the teams, however, the zone saw only the Railways and Uttar Pradesh teams to become successful to do so. The Railways team earned a total of 53 points and Uttar Pradesh team earned 51 points, at the end of the zonal level league matches.

The Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 was started with the match between the teams of Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha and the match was held at Moradabad from 14-16 November, 1987. The match remained drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials awarded the Vidarbha and Uttar Pradesh teams 14 and 11 points, respectively for the match. The Rajasthan team played against the Vidarbha team in the second match of the zone, which took place at Bhilwara from 20-22 November, 1987. The Rajasthan team won the match with a margin of 8 wickets and earned 20 points and the match also saw the Vidarbha team earning 8 points. The third match of the zone was played between the teams of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and the two teams played the match at Bhilai from 20-22 November, 1987-88. The Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh teams earned 13 and 9 points, respectively from the drawn match.

The Madhya Pradesh team appeared in the fourth of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 and this time, it played against the Railways team at Bhopal from 27-29 November, 1987. The Railways team played very well in the match and earned 20 points, by clinching a victory of an innings and 15 runs and the Madhya Pradesh team earned 2 points from the match, as well. The Railways team then played against the Uttar Pradesh in the next match of the zone and the match was held at Birsingpur from 04-06 December, 1987. The Uttar Pradesh and Railways teams earned 11 and 10 points, respectively from the match, as it remained drawn during the specified period of time. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and the two teams played the match at Kota from 04-06 December, 1987. The match was a drawn one and the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh teams earned 16 and 11 points, respectively from the drawn match.

The Railways and Rajasthan teams clashed with each other in the seventh of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 and the clash took place at Agra from 11-13 December, 1987. The match officials declared the match as an abandoned one without even a single ball was bowled and they also awarded both the teams 4 points, each for the match. The next match of the zone involved the teams like Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh and the match was held at Nagpur from 11-13 December, 1987. The Madhya Pradesh team earned 14 points and Vidarbha earned 8 points from the drawn match. The Vidarbha team appeared in the next match of the zone also and this time, it played against the Railways team at Nagpur from 18-20 December, 1987. The winner of the match was the Railways team with a margin of 31 runs to earn 19 runs and the Vidarbha team also earned 8 points from the match. The last of the Central Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 1986-87 saw a clash between the teams of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The two teams played the match at Uttar Pradesh and it remained drawn during the specified period of time. The Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan teams earned 16 and 7 points, respectively from the drawn match.