There was a number of 24 teams participated in the Ranji Trophy, 1973-74 and all of the teams were the regular ones in the tournament. The teams were coming from all the parts of India and they included the likes of Andhra, Assam, Baroda, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Railways, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Services, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and the Vidarbha. The teams played in the tournament after being divided into five different zones like Central, East, North, South and West.

Ranji Trophy 1973- 74, Central Zone League Matches: The Central Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1973-74 saw the participation of all the regular four teams included the likes of Uttar Pradesh, Vidarbha, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The teams were representing the Central region of India and they played against each other for becoming one of the top two teams in the zone. Getting a promotion to the knock out level of the tournament was also another principal aim of the teams.

Ranji Trophy 1973- 74, East Zone League Matches: The four teams that played under the East Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1973-74 included the likes of Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Orissa, all the regular participants of the tournament. The teams played against each other first in the zonal level and then the top two teams of the zone went on to compete with the top teams of the other teams in the knock out level of the tournament. Though all the teams tried very hard, only the teams like Bengal and Bihar became successful to enter into the knock out level of the tournament, as they were the toppers in the zone.

Ranji Trophy 1973- 74, North Zone League Matches: There were a number of 6 teams played against each other in the North Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1973-74 and all the teams were representing the Northern region of India. The teams that participated under the North Zone included the likes of Delhi, Haryana, Railways, Punjab, Services and Jammu & Kashmir and all of them vied for becoming one of the top two teams in the zone. According to the rules and regulations of the tournament, the top two teams form every zone was promoted to the knock out level of the tournament. The teams like Delhi and Railways got the promotion to the knock out level from the North Zone.

Ranji Trophy 1973- 74, South Zone League Matches: In the South Zone of the Ranji Trophy, 1973-74, there were a number of 5 teams competed against each other and the Karnataka team was a new team in the zone. The team came in place of the Mysore team and apart from Karnataka; the other teams in the zone included the likes of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and Andhra. All the teams that came from the Southern region of India fought hard against each other in the zonal level for becoming one of the top two teams in the zone and also to secure a birth in the knock out level of the tournament. However, only the teams like Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad became successful to do so from the South Zone.

Ranji Trophy 1973- 74, West Zone League Matches: The Bombay, Baroda, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Saurashtra were the five teams that participated under the West Zone in the Ranji Trophy, 1973-74. The teams were representing the Western region of India in the tournament and they played against each other in the zonal level for getting a chance into the knock out level of the tournament. The main target of the teams were to become one of the top two teams in the zone, as only the top two teams from a zone were supposed to get a chance into the knock out level of the tournament. The teams of Bombay and Maharashtra became successful to do so from the West Zone and they competed with the top teams of the other zones in the knock out level, for the championship trophy.

Ranji Trophy 1973- 74, Knock out Matches: The top two teams from all the five zones in the Ranji Trophy, 1973-74 got the promotion to the knock out level of the tournament. The ten teams that competed with each other in the knock out matches of the Ranji Trophy, 1973-74 included the likes of Bihar, Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bombay, Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Rajasthan, Delhi, Railways and Karnataka. The teams played against each other in the Pre-Quarter-Finals, Quarterfinals, Semi-Finals and Final of the tournament, with the same notion of becoming the champion of the Ranji Trophy. This edition of the tournament saw a new champion after a long gap of 15 years, as the Karnataka team ended the very long winning streak of the Bombay team in the Ranji Trophy and eventually became the winner of the championship trophy.