It was a good move by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to postpone the start of the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals by two days in order to give leading players the opportunity to play for their states in the crucial games. So often in the recent past have the Ranji Trophy knock-out matches been played without the national players that the country's premier national competition has been devalued and the fare dished out has, predictably enough, been mediocre. There is no doubt that the participation of players like Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Mongia, VVS Laxman, Sanjay Bangar, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Deep Dasgupta, Jacob Martin and Connor Williams raised the level of the contests, and there was much good cricket in the four matches.

The quarter-finals were not devoid of surprises, and the most emphatic one was the manner in which Baroda scythed through Hyderabad. Granted that Baroda are the defending champions and they had the home advantage, but not even their most ardent supporters would have expected them to win by an innings and 256 runs just 12 overs into the fourth morning. After all, Hyderabad had done well in the league stages, registering a comfortable 10-wicket win over Himachal Pradesh in the pre-quarter-finals and having India caps Laxman and Venkatapathy Raju supplemented by in-form players like Daniel Manohar and A Nandakishore in their ranks.

Jacob Martin © AFP

But, having tasted success last year, Baroda are no more the diffident team under the shadow of Bombay and Maharashtra that they were for long. Zaheer Khan produced a dream spell in the second innings that backed up some admirable batting feats from Williams (157) and Martin (271). At the moment, then, it must be said that Baroda look good enough to take the title for a second year running.

Baroda's semifinal opponents Punjab were always expected to get the better of Orissa, especially with the match being played at Mohali. The presence of Shiv Sundar Das and Debasis Mohanty had much to do with this eastern state making the semifinals for the first time last year. The two were around this year too, but Punjab were a superior all-round side. With Ravneet Ricky, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Pankaj Dharmani and Dinesh Mongia in their ranks, they never let slip the slim advantage that the two-run first innings lead gave them, and purposeful batting and incisive bowling saw them complete an emphatic 243-run victory that should do a world of good for their confidence against Baroda.

Sanjay Bangar © CricInfo

On the face of it, Railways defeating Tamil Nadu by eight wickets would also seem to be a surprise. But on closer scrutiny, it cannot accurately be termed as such. Railways, after finishing runners-up last year, are a very different team. Their confidence is at an all- time high, and the side today is very different from the one that lost three times successively to Tamil Nadu - in 1972-73, four years later, and then in the title clash in 1987-88. Of course, they are also a much stronger side now, with Sanjay Bangar, Murali Kartik and Harvinder Singh, besides the in-form JP Yadav and the evergreen Yere Goud in their ranks. They bat well down the order and have a well- balanced attack. The manner in which Bangar (212) held the innings together was exemplary and, riding on such feats, Railways must fancy their chances against Bengal. For Tamil Nadu, it was a match to forget in a hurry, with both the batsmen and bowlers failing to come good when it mattered the most.

In making the semifinals for the first time since 1993-94, two-time champions Bengal put up a commendable show in prevailing over Gujarat on the back of a slender first-innings lead. Only 32 runs separated the teams after the first innings, and there was time for Gujarat to come back into the game. But the manner in which Bengal shut them out of the match by splendid batting in the second innings was admirable. And while the established stars like Deep Dasgupta, Rohan Gavaskar, Devang Gandhi and Sourav Ganguly did their job, it was the performances of Subhomoy Das (77 and 107) and Sanjib Sanyal (123 and 92) that played a vital role in Bengal's victory.

The two semifinals promise to be engrossing affairs, and with all the leading players taking part, the high standard of play is bound to be maintained.

© CricInfo