da premier bet： It was a good move by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)to postpone the start of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals by two daysin order to give leading players the opportunity to play for theirstates in the crucial games
da mrbet： Partab Ramchand13-Feb-2002It was a good move by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)to postpone the start of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals by two daysin order to give leading players the opportunity to play for theirstates in the crucial games. So often in the recent past have theRanji Trophy knock-out matches been played without the nationalplayers that the country’s premier national competition has beendevalued and the fare dished out has, predictably enough, beenmediocre. There is no doubt that the participation of players likeSourav Ganguly, Dinesh Mongia, VVS Laxman, Sanjay Bangar, Zaheer Khan,Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Deep Dasgupta, Jacob Martin and ConnorWilliams raised the level of the contests, and there was much goodcricket in the four matches.The quarter-finals were not devoid of surprises, and the most emphaticone was the manner in which Baroda scythed through Hyderabad. Grantedthat Baroda are the defending champions and they had the homeadvantage, but not even their most ardent supporters would haveexpected them to win by an innings and 256 runs just 12 overs into thefourth morning. After all, Hyderabad had done well in the leaguestages, registering a comfortable 10-wicket win over Himachal Pradeshin the pre-quarter-finals and having India caps Laxman andVenkatapathy Raju supplemented by in-form players like Daniel Manoharand A Nandakishore in their ranks.
Jacob Martin
© AFPBut, having tasted success last year, Baroda are no more the diffidentteam under the shadow of Bombay and Maharashtra that they were forlong. Zaheer Khan produced a dream spell in the second innings thatbacked up some admirable batting feats from Williams (157) and Martin(271). At the moment, then, it must be said that Baroda look goodenough to take the title for a second year running.Baroda’s semifinal opponents Punjab were always expected to get thebetter of Orissa, especially with the match being played at Mohali.The presence of Shiv Sundar Das and Debasis Mohanty had much to dowith this eastern state making the semifinals for the first time lastyear. The two were around this year too, but Punjab were a superiorall-round side. With Ravneet Ricky, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh,Pankaj Dharmani and Dinesh Mongia in their ranks, they never let slipthe slim advantage that the two-run first innings lead gave them, andpurposeful batting and incisive bowling saw them complete an emphatic243-run victory that should do a world of good for their confidenceagainst Baroda.
Sanjay Bangar
© CricInfoOn the face of it, Railways defeating Tamil Nadu by eight wicketswould also seem to be a surprise. But on closer scrutiny, it cannotaccurately be termed as such. Railways, after finishing runners-uplast year, are a very different team. Their confidence is at an alltime high, and the side today is very different from the one that lostthree times successively to Tamil Nadu – in 1972-73, four years later,and then in the title clash in 1987-88. Of course, they are also amuch stronger side now, with Sanjay Bangar, Murali Kartik andHarvinder Singh, besides the in-form JP Yadav and the evergreen YereGoud in their ranks. They bat well down the order and have a wellbalanced attack. The manner in which Bangar (212) held the inningstogether was exemplary and, riding on such feats, Railways must fancytheir chances against Bengal. For Tamil Nadu, it was a match to forgetin a hurry, with both the batsmen and bowlers failing to come goodwhen it mattered the most.In making the semifinals for the first time since 1993-94, two-timechampions Bengal put up a commendable show in prevailing over Gujaraton the back of a slender first-innings lead. Only 32 runs separatedthe teams after the first innings, and there was time for Gujarat tocome back into the game. But the manner in which Bengal shut them outof the match by splendid batting in the second innings was admirable.And while the established stars like Deep Dasgupta, Rohan Gavaskar,Devang Gandhi and Sourav Ganguly did their job, it was theperformances of Subhomoy Das (77 and 107) and Sanjib Sanyal (123 and92) that played a vital role in Bengal’s victory.The two semifinals promise to be engrossing affairs, and with all theleading players taking part, the high standard of play is bound to bemaintained.
