Keener tussles anticipated in second round

The second round of matches in the Ranji Trophy Super League begins tomorrow and should hopefully be more keenly fought than the first leg which consisted of three mismatches and three rain affected games.

In Group A, holders Karnataka, still licking its wounds after the mauling from Mumbai, has a chance to pick up the pieces and restore their lost pride when they take on Rajasthan, inarguably the weakest team in this Group of Death. Karnataka's Test stars will add lustre to a side that looked out of its depth at this level in their last game. Rajasthan captain Gagan Khoda has his work cut out as he attempts to make a dent on an imposing opponent, playing on home turf.

Bengal will open its engagements against Delhi at the Eden Gardens. Saurav Ganguly, the heir apparent to the captaincy throne of the India team, will lead a strong challenge against a Delhi team weakened by the absence of their new ball duo of Ashish Nehra and Amit Bhandari. The formidable batting line ups of Delhi and Bengal are yet to be tested in the competition thus far and the match promises to be a contest between the batsmen of the rival teams rather than between bat and ball.

In Group B, Hyderabad will hope to come back strongly at home against unfancied Bihar after a disappointing display against Punjab when their batsmen found their touch too late to get more than a token three points. With Mohd. Azharuddin being picked to play for the Board President's team against the visiting South Africans at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, VVS Laxman, fresh from a man of the series showing in the Challenger series will be the man to look out for. For Bihar, all rounder Mihir Diwakar who gave a fine all round display against Baroda seems to be a prospect for higher honours.

Table toppers Baroda will start favourites in their clash against Railways at Delhi although both sides will miss key players who will be representing the Board President's side. Nayan Mongia and Jacob Martin will be away but the Baroda batting still packs too much of a punch for a Railways attack further weakened by the absence of Murali Kartik, who looks a shoo in to make the Test team against South Africa at Mumbai.

While Tamil Nadu seem to be the favourites to progress from Group C, they will sit out this week as Haryana press their claims at home against surprise qualifiers Saurashtra and UP and Orissa take centre stage in a clash at Kanpur. Haryana's batsmen will look to pound Saurashtra into submission. For the visitors, middle order bat PJ Bhatt and all rounder HJ Parsana are the in form players, with captain Sitanshu Kotak due for a big score to lift the morale of a team that surrendered meekly against Tamil Nadu in their opening fixture.

In the other encounter, home advantage should give UP the edge despite their missing the services of Mohd. Kaif. The team looks well balanced with Jyoti Yadav and Manoj Mudgal bolstering the batting and Sallabh Srivastava and Gyanendra Pandey lending bite to their attack. Orissa on the other hand are top heavy in the batting department (SS Das, P Mullick, RR Parida) which could prove to be their undoing what with their lynch pin Debashish Mohanty also doing battle against the Proteas at Brabourne.