Ranji Round 3: Exciting fare on the cards

Delhi have four points and Railways two. from two matches each.

Punjab upbeat at home

Riding on the crest of a thumping win over Assam, Punjab look forward to continue their winning run, when they meet Baroda at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali.

Punjab coach Intikhab Alam was happy with the showing of his batsmen (Ravneet Ricky and Pankaj Dharmani have scored a ton each thus far) and medium pacer Gagandeep Singh, who finished with 12 wickets against Assam.

Baroda have 4 points from two games. Baroda opener Satyajit Parab hit back-to-back centuries (120, 100) against Maharashtra while Jacob Martin scored 126 against Assam.

Mumbai want full points

Reigning champions Mumbai are at full strength after missing the services of three key members in their last match and are looking forward to gain full points from their third league match against Andhra.

Mumbai, with only two points from as many matches, are eager to boost their tally to the maximum possible extent though Andhra are no push-overs.

HOME ADVANTAGE

The fancied teams — Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab, Bengal — all play at home. A good time, then, for the India fringe players to make their mark. The old guard (Jadeja, Kambli), those in the wings (Agarkar, Yuvraj, Bahutule, Dinesh Mongia, Ramesh Powar), discards (Aakash Chopra, Wasim Jaffer) and the promising (Ambati Rayudu)

AGAINST ODDS

The promising trio of Venugopal Rao, Dheeraj Jadhav and Siddarth Trivedi will be battling the odds playing away from home. Rao especially is on fire but will be up against a hungry Mumbai attack.