Baroda start favourites

Having put up an awesome show in the current season, Baroda appear favourites in their five-day Ranji Trophy Elite group semi-final encounter against Bengal beginning at the Eden Gardens tomorrow.

Bengal, who pipped Karnataka at the post with a last-over win against Railways which lifted them to the second place in Group A with 13 points, are also quietly confident. Deep Dasgupta, Bengal captain, has said that it is going to be just another match for the hosts. "There is no pressure on us as such. We are not taking this game as a semi-final. It is going to be just another match which we want to win. The young guys have played well and have shown that they can shoulder responsibilities." With Rohan Gavaskar leading the run tally (422 runs) and with Arindam Das, Deep Dasgupta, Subhamoy Das, Avishek Jhunjhunwala - who hit a magnificient 139 to defeat Railways - and Manoj Tiwari in fine nick Bengal's batting looks in good shape. It's the bowling which will be bit of worry for the hosts. With Ranadeb Bose and Shiv Sagar Singh, the left-arm spinner, having a disappointing season Bengal will look once again to their in-form bowlers - Sourashish Lahiri and Shib Shankar Paul - to spearhead their attack.

Meanwhile, Baroda, who coasted to outright victories in three Group B league games enroute to topping the pool with 19 points, the highest among all the 15 teams competing in the elite panel, are upbeat about their chances. "We have not lost any of the matches. And our confidence is at an all-time high," BS Sandhu, Baroda's coach, said. They had beaten Hyderabad by 220 runs, carved out an emphatic innings and 93 run win over Uttar Pradesh and humbled Punjab by 50 runs, riding on outstanding batting performances from the likes of Jacob Martin, Pinal Shah, Connor Willams and RK Solanki.

In the bowling department, Rajesh Pawar, the left armspinner, and Rakesh Patel - who returns after missing out two Ranji games owing to injury- have served the team well. Martin, the captain, has been particularly brilliant, piling up 486 runs, including an unbeaten 251 against Uttar Pradesh. However, Baroda would miss the services of an injured Satyajit Parab - out with a knee injury - who could not be fit in time for the match. India u-19 wicketkeeper Pinal Shah is expected to open with Wiliams.

Martin admitted that Parab's absence will be felt in the match. "Obviously we are going to miss him and his experience," he said. The Baroda team management announced the 12 for the match, and said that the playing XI would be decided tomorrow after a final look at the pitch. "We will then decide whether to go for an additional batsman or an additional seamer," said Sandhu, a member of the World Cup-winning Indian team of 1983.