An attacking opening batsman, Satyajit Parab has been one of the mainstays of Baroda's batting line-up over the last three seasons. He started off in the middle order, but the runs began to flow when he moved up to open the innings. Like most batsmen from the subcontinent, Parab is a fine strokeplayer, but his defensive technique has often been questioned. That didn't prevent him from scoring a bucketful of runs in 2000-01, though, when Baroda won the Ranji Trophy. Parab scored 809 runs at 58, and followed that up with 895 runs at an average of 56 in 2002-03. His consistency in the domestic circuit - and a knee injury to Akash Chopra - won him a place in the India A squad for the tour to England, but he played only two matches, passed over often for other opening batsmen such as Shiv Sunder Das, Wasim Jaffer and S Sriram. His age, coupled with his average abilities as a fielder, makes it highly unlikely that he will break into the national team. (S Rajesh)