Of Scholarship

Scholarship is great and is like an expanding flower

Pandityam nava pallavam vikasitham pushpam prayogajnatha

In order to have scholarism graced, one should strive hard to gain it. It is said that the hard work done by the scholar is known only to the scholar ! How can others know it ?

The scholar and the world, the endless strife
The discord in the harmonies of Life
The love of Learning, the sequestered nooks
And the sweet serenity of Books
The marketplace, eager love for gain
Whose aim is vanity, whose end is pain !


Vidwaneva Vijanathi
Vidwajjana parishramam
Na hi vandhya vijanathi
Gurveem prasava vedanam !

How can others know the work hard
Which the scholars have indulged in ?
Like a barren woman who cannot know
The pain of delivering !

England keep their No 1 Slot

England beat India by six wickets in the lone T20, thus keeping their numero uno position in World T20 Cricket.

India could only score 120-9 and England surpassed that humble target with 8 balls to spare. KP scored 53 off 39 balls to spearhead the English win. England get a lot of relief, as this win save their faces, as they lost horribly to India in the ODIs. KP was dropped at one by Raina and he hit three sixes and five fours, as the reigning T20 champions proved their supremacy in the shortest version of the game. Samit Patel hit 21 off 25 balls and Bopara remained not out on 14. England bowled clinically and restricted India to 120. Raina top scored with 39 and only he could shine with the bat. The rest Indian batsmen fell like nine pins.

Meanwhile, BCCI awarded 36 contracts to players, an addition of 11 more players in Grade C. Kohli, Yuvi and Ishant were promoted to Grade A. Now Grade A has 12 players, instead of the previous nine.

They are

Grade A ( Rs 1 Crore)

Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Ishant Sharma, Virat Kohli.Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, M S Dhoni, VVS Laxman & Suresh Raina.

Grade B ( Rs 50 lakhs)

Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja.,Praveen Kumar, Pragyan Ojha & Ravichandran Ashwin.

Grade C ( Rs 25 lakhs )

S Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Munaf Patel, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Parthiv Patel, S Badrinath, Manoj Tiwary, Piyush Chawla, Dinesh Karthik, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Rahul Sharma & Varun Aaron.

Kohli got the nod because of his impressive show in the series against England, even though he flopped in the West Indies. Ishant for his good show in England. Murali Vijay was pushed to Group C and Ashish Nehra was not included in the list.

Big names for Indian numbers

There are greater numbers, than the ones mentioned below.

Maha Padma = 10^15
Kshoni = 10^16
Parardha = 10^17
Sankha = 10^18
Maha Sankha = 10^19
Kshithi = 10^20
Maha Kshiti = 10^21
Kshobha = 10^22
Maha Kshobha = 10^23

Neethi Lamba = 10^27
Sarva Bala = 10^45
Thallakshana = 10^83

Indian names for big numbers

Ganitha Kerala, the Kerala School of Astronomy and Maths, has given a lot of names for big numbers.

Like the Western

Myriad = 10^4
Million = 10^6

Indian names are

Shata = 10^2
Sahasra = 10^3
Ayutha = 10^4
Laksha = 10^5
Dasa Laksha = 10^6 ( Million )
Koti = 10^7
Dasa Koti = 10^8
Vrinda = 10^9
Kharva = 10^10
Nikharva = 10^11
Mahapadma = 10^12
Mahakharva = 10^13
Padma = 10^14

In the Western, we have

Million = 1000^2
Billion = 1000^3
Trillion = 1000^4

or

Nillion = 1000^(n+1)

where n is the number. Tri meaning 3 and trillion = 1000^(3+1)!

Indian names for big numbers

Ganitha Kerala, the Kerala School of Astronomy and Maths, has given a lot of names for big numbers.

Like the Western

Myriad = 10^4
Million = 10^6

Indian names are

Shata = 10^2
Sahasra = 10^3
Ayutha = 10^4
Laksha = 10^5
Dasa Laksha = 10^6 ( Million )
Koti = 10^7
Dasa Koti = 10^8
Vrinda = 10^9
Kharva = 10^10
Nikharva = 10^11
Mahapadma = 10^12
Mahakharva = 10^13
Padma = 10^14

In the Western, we have

Million = 1000^2
Billion = 1000^3
Trillion = 1000^4

or

Nillion = 1000^(n+1)

where n is the number. Tri meaning 3 and trillion = 1000^(3+1)!

We are world champions, say India !

Indian spinners triggered an English collapse. Dhoni opined that the English batsmen have not yet mastered Indian conditions.

England were chasing a target of 272 and Cook and Keiswetter gave them a solid 120 partnership, but the visitors lost their way with the exit of these two formidable batsmen, as their ten wickets fell for 47 runs.

After Aaron achieved the initial breakthrough, Indian spinners Jadeja, Ashwin, Raina and Tiwary took the remaining wickets to send the visitors back to the pavilion for just 176 runs. Jadeja took 4/33 and Ashwin 3/28. This
brownwash made amends for the humiliation in England, where India were mauled !

Cook and Kieswetter were going great guns, when Aaron, arguably the fastest Indian bowler, dismissed Cook for 60 in his second over. Jadeja trapped Kieswetter lbw., Ashwin dismissed Ian Bell for two, Trott and Bairstow were removed in eight balls by Jadeja. Bopara was removed by Raina, bowled round his legs and Bresnan holed out ot Tiwary. Ashwin then picked up Meaker and Finn to complete the brownwash.

Dhoni was adjudjed Man of the Series and he smashed 75 not out off 69 balls to power India to 271-8, after India was sent in to bat by Cook. His last seven knocks now read 69, 78 not out, 50 not out, 87 not out, 35 not out, 15 not out and 75 not out.

Jadeja was adjudged Man of the Match for his 4 wickets. Earlier Rahane ( 42 ) and Gambhir ( 38 ) scored 80 for the first wicket. Raina scored 38 before being run out and Jadeja remained a good No 7, scoring a steady 21.

The rivals will meet again on Saturday for a lone T20 ! In this series, known as the payback series, India had to win. The Indian crowd was irate and everybody was blaming the busy schedule. When the team was announced, many were apprehensive that a second rate Indian XI may not hold against England, who beat India comprehensively in England. But the Indian team rose to the occasion and now India is third in ODI rankings.

Cook was dejected and said " We were in with a shout there, 120 for no loss, and then we were blown away at the end. It was very disappointing. We know that you can lose wickets in a cluster, we seem to have lost 10 there in a cluster. Credit to the way they bowled, and we played a couple of poor shots."

Indian spinners led by Jadeja and Aswin sealed the fate of the series. English batsmen had no clues to balls which kept low and they were routed. Indians will be thankful to the return of Jadeja, the pace of Aaron and Yadav ( who both clocked more than 145 kph ), the length of Vinay Kumar , the batting of Raina, Kohli, Dhoni and Jadeja. Now India has 118 points.

India had won 16 out of 18 ODIs played in India and their dominance in home conditions is alarming.

Dhoni was ecstatic.

"I remember them as a very strong side and they can give you the punch with a good bowling unit. But they need to click as a batting unit. It's just that they have not done well in India."

Indian bowlers could not use English conditions well. "I've not said anything different. We must realise our strengths and weaknesses. Of course, it's a great series win. But our pacers could not bowl 10 overs. But it didn't happen here. We have to realise where we have to go better. It's good to have bowlers. We need to improve as a team. Hopefully, we have improved but we still need to be consistent and not depending on the venue. We have to be more consistent with our bowling as well. These are the areas we need to emphasis upon so that we may not see a Raina bowling alongside Tiwary." said the whirlwind wicket keeper batsman.

As a No 6, 'Man of the Series' Dhoni said he had adjusted himself to that slot. "The last time I played up the order was in Pakistan and I could not capitalise on a couple of innings. I was supposed to bat at 5, 6 or 7 and got myself adjusted. Now the format of the game has also changed. Now with split of powerplays, the situations are different. We have to be good at slog overs and rotate strikes as well. It's about taking risks as well. I have changed my style of batting. At 3, you can be flamboyant but at 5 and 6 you have to be careful. Reiterating his stand on terming the series as revenge, he said, "It's not about revenge. In sport, you don't go for revenge. We are a good side. Our bowling did not perform to the extent in the series. For us, it's about to do well but not setting examples."

Dhoni said he is philosophical about the humiliation incurred in England.

"It happens in the world. You are appreciated when you do well. It should be taken in an open heart. I can also sit and criticise. I was not too worried about criticism. We know cricket is big in India. It's a part of our life."

Dhoni praised the youngsters. "It's difficult to replace the seniors talent-wise. But these youngsters have clicked as a unit. They are slightly better fielders. They may save 8-10 runs which matter in ODIs. They have reacted in the right way. They waited to turn the game in their favour. But we really can't replace Sachin, Sehwag and Yuvraj."

About the low turnout at Kolkotta, Dhoni said, "We played a lot of cricket in India. The World Cup, IPL and then the Champions League were held here. Big stars like Sachin were missing. This is one of the biggest stadia in India. So it's not easy to get a jam-packed crowd everytime. I remember them as a very strong side and they can give you the punch with a good bowling unit. But they need to click as a batting unit. It's just that they have not done well in India."

Dhoni wished his countrymen Happy Diwali. "I extend my best wishes to everyone for Diwali" said the formidable Indian captain.

In T20s, England is positioned at No 1 with 127 points, India is placed No 5 with 112 points, Australia with 111 points and Pakistan 97 points. Misbah condemend the ranking of Pakistan at No 7, saying that they were World Champions. He said his side will improve, even though the ranking is undeserved !

Said Misbah, "It was quite a shock to the whole team. We felt it quite a lot, all the players," whose shot, in the 2007 final, went straight into the safe hands of Sreeshant, giving India the Cup that mattered.

He said his players were eager to improve their rankings. "We've spoken about it as well. All the players have quite a lot of concern about it. All the players want to do well. We've lost quite a few of our last T20s, so all the players felt it and their thinking is that they need to improve it now." Pakistan start their second Test against SL on Wed.

"Next time we play a T20, our approach will be that this is a format that we have done really well in, it's a format that we've played a lot, and our performances in the three World T20s, runner-up, winner, then semis, we want to bring that ranking back" said the solid middle order batsman

India thrash England !

Varun Aaron impressed one and all with his blistering pace. He clocked 145.3 in the 11th over. Even though he did not get a chance to complete his full quota of ten overs, his spell 6-1-24-3 was a pointer that India's pace bowling future is not all brimming with pessimistic prophecies.

Dhoni used him very carefully and gave him the first over after the end of the mandatory first power play. A move which ensured that the promising speedster got enough support.

Even though his first spell was uneventul, his second spell of 3-1-10-3 was great and gave Indian supporters the pep that they needed. One always wondered why a nation of 1.2 billion people could not develop fast bowlers, who could bowl faster than 150 kph.

His second spell was marked by full length deliveries and it is to his credit that he clean bowled Borthwick, Meaker and Bresnan. One should also give credit to the ball of Finn which clean bowled Raina. It came at a blistering 149.9 kph !

Kohli (80) and Raina ( 86 ) crushed England in a century partnership. England looks like a cat out of water in Indian conditions.

Dhoni was exuberant. He said "They got a good start. After 10 overs, we thought they will get 270 plus. But there was a twist in the tale. Spinners got more and more turn as the game progressed and that helped us restrain them." .

Dhoni also said pacer Varun Aaron, who made his debut, was a good addition to the team."He bowled quick. If you can bowl quick, it's difficult to rotate the strike. Now we have both Umesh Yadav and Aaron, and we can make a good choice according to the conditions."

Indian fiedling has improved. "We have improved a lot. Those 10 runs (saved) matter. Overall it has become a good fielding unit."

Cook blamed lack of partnerships for the debacle. "We fell short again. In Indian conditions, you need to score 270, 280. We lost wickets in cluster today; 220 was never going to be enough. We kept losing wickets. We have not performed to our potential. We have not played as well as we would have liked to. The guys would definitely want to win in Kolkata."

Suresh Raina, who scored a quick-fire 80 off just 62 balls, was adjudged Man-of-the-Match. "The partnership with Virat was crucial. Me and Virat spoke to each other and he said, 'We have to be together for about 100 runs'. He said 'We'll rotate strike and wait for the loose deliveries to play our shots'" said the versatile left hander.

Bowled by a fastish delivery from Finn which made him miss his century, the maverick left hander said. "I had decided to play my natural game. But I won't repeat that mistake again. We will try to win it 5-0."