Bhubaneswar: Orissa, who still have an outside chance of qualifying for the knock-out stages of the Ranji Trophy, will have their task cut out when they face hosts Baroda in their Group C encounter beginning, Friday at Vadodara. Both sides have so far had a disastrous season with Baroda (seven points) at fifth in the seven-team league table just a rung above Orissa (five points).
However, both sides have shown signs of revival in their previous games. Orissa batted out of their skins to get the first innings lead against a formidable Tamil Nadu side who had scored 530 for eight, while Baroda on the other hand, enforced the follow on against Mumbai. There can be no doubt, that their recent shows will spur both the sides to great heights.
Orissa will probably be fielding the same side that played against Tamil Nadu. There are however, still some doubts regarding the fitness of Rajesh Dhuper, the hero of the last game, who is carrying a right index finger injury. However, if sources are to be believed, then Dhuper himself is keen to play.
The good omen for Orissa is that most of the batsmen are in form with former skipper Biplab Samantray showing the way by already scoring four half centuries this season. Both openers Natraj Behera and Sandeep Patnaik regained form in the last game, while the impressive debut of Shantanu Mishra certainly gives the batting a solid look.
Baroda on their part, haven’t been duly troubled by the absence of the Pathan brothers. While Irfan has been dropped from the squad, Yusuf is yet to recover from typhoid. However, in their absence, youngster Swapnil Singh, who got a big hundred in the last game against Mumbai, has shouldered the responsibility of leading the batting. Opener Aditya Waghmode, who also got a century in the same game, has been a consistent scorer this season.
Baroda have a competent pace attack in Atit Seth, a former India U-19 player, Lukman Meriwala and Sagar Mangalorkar. The three have come up with some sterling spells and the Orissa batters will have to handle them carefully.
However, with the pitch at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara having the reputation of being a flat deck, another run fest is on the cards.
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