The fifth edition of the prestigious and premier domestic cricket tournament of India, Ranji Trophy was held in the years of 1939-40 and the Ranji Trophy, 1939-40 saw a number of 14 teams, participating in it. The number of teams was a bit decreased in this edition; however, the interest among the people was never decreased. The teams that played in the Ranji Trophy, 1939-40 included the likes of Hyderabad, Madras, Mysore, Southern Punjab, North West Frontier Province, Rajputana, Delhi, Bombay, Sind, Western India, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Nawanagar and Baroda. The tournament started with the match between the teams of Bombay and Nawanagar that was held at Bombay from 03-05 November, 1939. The Nawanagar team won the drawn match on the basis of its lead over Bombay in the first innings.

In the second match of the Ranji Trophy, 1939-40, the teams like Madras and Mysore clashed with each other at Madras from 04-06 November, 1939 and the Madras team won the match by 2 wickets. The Baroda and Gujarat team met with each other in the third match of the competition at Baroda from 18-20 November, 1939. The Baroda team played wonderfully in the match and they won by 52 runs. The fourth match saw the clash between the teams of Hyderabad and Madras at Hyderabad from 01-03 December, 1939 and the Hyderabad team won the match by an innings and 2 runs. Then the Bengal and Bihar team played the fifth match of the tournament at Jamshedpur from 02-04 December, 1939 where the Bengal team won by an innings and 51 runs. The sixth match involved the teams of Sind and Western India and held at Karachi from 02-04 December, 1939, the drawn match saw the Western India team winning for having a lead in the first innings.

The teams of Delhi and Rajputana met in the seventh match of the Ranji Trophy, 1939-40 at Delhi from 09-11 December, 1939 and the Rajputana team became successful to beat the Delhi team by 7 wickets in the match. The eighth match saw the clash between the teams of Baroda and Nawanagar and the match as held at Baroda from 15-17 December, 1939. The Baroda team played extremely well in the match and won it by a huge margin of 10 wickets. The next match involved the teams of Maharashtra and Western India, where the Maharashtra team won on the basis of its lead in the first innings. The match was held at Poona from 06-08 January, 1940. Then, the United Provinces and Central India teams met with each other in the tenth match of the Ranji Trophy, 1939-40 and the match was held at Allahabad from 06-07 January, 1940. The match was won by the United Provinces team with a huge margin of an innings and 6 runs.

The United Provinces team was involved in the eleventh match of the tournament as well, where they met with the Bengal team. The match was held at Calcutta from 13-15 January, 1940 and the United Provinces team won the drawn match, as it was leading over Bengal in the first innings. The teams of Maharashtra and Baroda were involved in the twelfth match of the Ranji Trophy, 1939-40 and they played the match at Poona from 21-23 January, 1940. Though the match was drawn, the officials declared the Maharashtra team as the winner, as it was having a lead in the first innings. Then the match between the teams of Southern Punjab and North West Frontier Province held at Patiala from 29-31 January, 1940. In this match, the Southern Punjab played quite well and as a result, became the winner with a margin of 5 wickets. The last match of the group level was held at Ajmer from 10-12 February, 1940 between the teams of Rajputana and Southern Punjab. Playing well in the match, the Southern Punjab team beat their opponents by a huge margin of an innings and 190 runs.

The first Semi-Final of the Ranji Trophy, 1939-40 saw a tough battle between the teams of Maharashtra and Southern Punjab and the match was held at Poona from 17-19 February, 1940. Maharashtra became successful to get into the Final of the tournament by beating the Southern Punjab team in the drawn match for having a lead in the first innings. The teams of United Provinces and Hyderabad clashed in the second Semi-Final of the tournament where the United Provinces team got a walkover. The match was scheduled to be held from 17-19 February, 1940. Then, the two best teams of that edition of the tournament, Maharashtra and United Provinces locked their horns together in the Final of the Ranji Trophy, 1939-40. The Final match was held at Poona from 24-26 February, 1940 and the Maharashtra team thrashed the United Provinces team by a huge margin of 10 wickets in the match to become the champion in the Ranji Trophy, 1939-40.