The Ranji Trophy, 2001-02 was also played under the old format of the tournament and there was only the zonal level and knock out level, no Super League in the tournament. All the 27 teams that participated in the tournament were the regular participants of the tournament and they were selected by BCCI from all the parts of India. The organisers of the most popular domestic cricket tournament in India, BCCI divided the teams into five different zones, depending on their geographical positions. The zones were named as the Central Zone, East Zone, North Zone, South Zone and West Zone. The participating teams first played against each other in their respective zones and then the top three teams from each of the zones entered into the knock out level of the tournament. They competed with each other in the knock out level of the tournament for winning the championship title. The participating teams in the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02 included the likes of Andhra, Assam, Baroda, Bengal, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Orissa, Punjab, Railways, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Services, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and the Vidarbha.

Ranji Trophy 2001-02,Central Zone League Matches: The Central Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02 consisted all the 5 regular teams that were mainly coming from the Central region of India. Most of the teams were representing different states from the Central region of India in the premium domestic cricket tournament in India. The teams included the likes of Railways, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Uttar Pradesh and Railways and they tried hard for clinching one of the top spots in the zone. All the teams also tried their best to secure a berth in the knock out level of the tournament, however, only the teams like Railways, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan could eventually do so from the zone. The Railways, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan teams earned total of 269, 19 and 16 points, respectively from the zonal level league matches to enter into the knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02.

Ranji Trophy 2001-02,East Zone League Matches: All the 5 teams that had been playing under the East Zone in the tournament for the previous several editions were present in the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02 also. The teams were mainly representing various states from the Eastern region of India in the most popular and premium domestic cricket tournament in India and they included the likes of Bengal, Orissa, Tripura, Assam and Bihar. The teams competed with each other very hard with the same view of claiming one of the top three spots in the zone. The teams also gave their best efforts for securing a berth in the knock out level of the tournament. The teams like Bengal, Orissa and Assam eventually got into the knock out level of the tournament from the zone by earning the highest points from the league matches. The Bengal, Orissa and Assam teams earned total of 27, 27 and 10 points, respectively, at the end of the zonal level league matches for getting into the knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02.

Ranji Trophy 2001-02, North Zone League Matches: The North Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02 saw the participation of 6 teams that were playing in the tournament for the previous several editions. Most of the teams were representing different states from the Northern region of India in the premium domestic cricket tournament of India and there were a Services team in the zone also. The participating teams in the North Zone included the likes of Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab, Services and Himachal Pradesh and they gave their best efforts to claim the top spot in the zone. Securing a berth in the knock out level of the tournament was also another principal objective of the teams. However, only the teams like Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh eventually became the toppers in the zone. The Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh teams earned the highest 34, 27 and 24 points, respectively from the zonal level league matches and entered into the knock out level from the North Zone.

Ranji Trophy 2001-02, South Zone League Matches: 6 teams participated under the South Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02 and all the regular teams were selected by the BCCI from the Southern region of India. Most of the teams were representing different states from the Southern region of India in the most popular and fruitful domestic cricket tournament of India. The teams included the likes of Hyderabad, Kerala, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra and Karnataka. All the teams played against each other in the zonal level league matches with the same objective of claiming the top spot in the zone. The teams had the aim to secure a berth in the knock out level of the tournament also and only the teams like Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad eventually achieved the aim. The Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad teams earned total of 28, 26 and 24 points, respectively from the zonal level league matches. They also went on to compete with the top teams of the other zones in the knock out level for the championship title.

Ranji Trophy 2001-02, West Zone League Matches: In the West Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02, 5 regular teams played against each other and the teams were hailing from the Western region of India. The teams included the likes of Mumbai, Baroda, Saurashtra, Gujarat and Maharashtra and most of them were representing various states from the Western region of India in the premium domestic cricket tournament of India. While playing in the West Zone league matches in the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02, the main objective of all the teams was to become one of the top teams in the zone. Securing a berth in the knock out level of the tournament was also another main objective of the teams. However, though all the teams tried their best, only the teams like Mumbai, Baroda and Gujarat eventually entered into the knock out level from the West Zone. The Mumbai, Baroda and Gujarat teams earned total of 23, 16 and 16 points, respectively, at the end of the zonal level league matches to do so from the zone.

Ranji Trophy 2001-02, Knock out Matches: After the completion of league matches in all the five zones, the BCCI selected the top 15 teams from the zones for playing in the knock out level of the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02. The teams were selected on the basis of the points that they earned from the zonal level league matches and the 15 teams included the top three teams from each of the five zones. The teams that were promoted to the knock out level included the likes of Gujarat, Andhra, Hyderabad, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Assam, Railways, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Baroda. The teams played against each other in the knock out matches of the Ranji Trophy, 2001-02 like the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final of the tournament. Though all the teams gave their best efforts to win the championship title, the Railways team eventually clinched the trophy with an impressive performance in the Final.