The 1997-98 Ranji Trophy marked the 64th season of the first-class competition in India. Twenty-seven teams competed across a format that combined league matches with a knockout stage to determine the national champion. Karnataka secured its fifth title by defeating Uttar Pradesh in the final based on a first innings lead.
Karnataka and Mumbai emerged from the Super League to reach the knockout phase, with both sides receiving byes directly to the semifinals. Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Hyderabad, and Haryana also advanced to the knockout rounds. The competition faced a significant disruption on February 21, 1998, when Delhi and Tamil Nadu received suspensions from the tournament. Officials decided not to count points against these two teams for the remaining participants.
Individual performances stood out throughout the season, as Mumbai batter Vinod Kambli led the tournament with 880 runs. On the bowling front, Paras Mhambrey of Mumbai claimed the most wickets, finishing with a total of 48. These statistical milestones defined the individual success stories during a highly competitive campaign.
The later stages of the tournament saw notable personal achievements. During the semifinals, Rahul Dravid passed the 7,000-run mark in first-class cricket and eclipsed 1,000 runs for the season. His teammates J. Arunkumar and Sunil Joshi also achieved the 2,000-run milestone in first-class cricket during the same match, while Prahladrao Srinivasa Murthy made his first-class debut.
| Team | Played | W | D | L | NR | Points |
| Karnataka | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 |
| Mumbai | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
| Orissa | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Punjab | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Railways | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Team | Played | W | D | L | NR | Points |
| Uttar Pradesh | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Bengal | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Maharashtra | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Delhi | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Tamil Nadu | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Team | Played | W | D | L | NR | Points |
| Uttar Pradesh | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Haryana | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Baroda | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
| Bihar | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| 30 March - 3 April 1998 Scorecard |
| Hyderabad | v | Bengal |
| 209 (110.5 overs)Daniel Manohar 44Ajay Varma 4/31 (15.5 overs) | 243 (115.3 overs)Saba Karim 69Narender Singh 7/103 (36 overs) | |
| 244 (92.4 overs)Daniel Manohar 66Subroto Banerjee 5/58 (22.4 overs) | 166 (67.4 overs)Saba Karim 59*Daniel Manohar 4/48 (14) |
| Hyderabad won by 44 runsGymkhana Ground, Secunderabad, Secunderabad Umpires: KS Giridharan and N Menon |
| 30 March - 3 April 1998 Scorecard |
| Haryana | v | Uttar Pradesh |
| 156 (63.3 overs)Vijay Yadav 23Obaid Kamal 3/37 (17 overs) | 613 (224.5 overs)Saurabh Shukla 189Dhanraj Singh 3/77 (30.5 overs) | |
| 423 (115.3 overs)Jitender Sharma 149Ashish Zaidi 4/111 (25.3 overs) |
| Uttar Pradesh won by an innings and 34 runsOrdnance Equipment Factory Ground, Kanpur Umpires: CR Vijayaraghavan and S Dandapani |
| 9–12 April 1998 Scorecard |
| Mumbai (H) | v | Uttar Pradesh |
| 94 (34.3 overs)Jatin Paranjpe 42Ashish Zaidi 6/29 (11.3 overs) | 293 (99.4 overs)Gyanendra Pandey 109Paras Mhambrey 3/48 (21 overs) | |
| 328 (112 overs)Amol Muzumdar 87Obaid Kamal 5/58 (31 overs) | 135/7 (60.2 overs)Gyanendra Pandey 45*Nilesh Kulkarni 4/46 (23.2 overs) |
| Uttar Pradesh won by 3 wicketsWankhede Stadium, Mumbai Umpires: Francis Gomes and Arani Jayaprakash |
| 9–12 April 1998 Scorecard |
| Hyderabad (H) | v | Karnataka |
| 283 (126.1 overs)G Arvind KumarDodda Ganesh 5/74 (28.1 overs) | 309 (135.3 overs)J. Arunkumar 85Kanwaljit Singh 7/62 (39.3 overs) | |
| 179 (62.2 overs)A Nand Kishore 39Dodda Ganesh 4/74 (21 overs) | 157/9 (75 overs)Fazal Khaleel 51Kanwaljit Singh 7/38 (32 overs) |
| Karnataka won by 1 wicketGymkhana Ground, Secunderabad Umpires: M. R. Singh and Chandra Sathe |
| 19–23 April 1998 Scorecard |
| Uttar Pradesh | v | Karnataka (H) |
| 134 (67.1 overs)Jyoti Yadav 36Sunil Joshi 4/37 (23.1 overs) | 617/9d (211.3 overs)Rahul Dravid 215Obaid Kamal 4/99 (45.3 overs) | |
| 416/7 (171 overs)Saurabh Shukla 91Sunil Joshi 3/112 (61 overs) |
| Match drawn (Karnataka won on first innings lead)M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: Aloke Bhattacharjee and Suresh Deo Player of the match: Rahul Dravid (Karnataka) |
Squad lists and statistics via Wikipedia