Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The team of the tournament


The team of the tournament



Tillakaratne Dilshan reached a brilliant hundred in the chase, Sri Lanka v England, 4th quarter-final, World Cup 2011, Colombo, March 26 2011
Tillakaratne Dilshan: Runs, wickets, catches, everything but keeping wicket © Getty Images
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Sachin Tendulkar 482 runs at 53.55
There were murmurs wondering whether he should quit the game after India's nightmarish campaign in 2007, but Tendulkar erased memories of that disaster with a World Cup victory before his adoring home fans. His innings were filled with sumptuous strokes, and centuries in key matches of the league phase. A delightful half-century set up the chase against Australia in the quarters, before an uncharacteristically scratchy 85 made him Man of the Match in the semi-final against Pakistan. Even the 18 in the final had a signature straight drive and some lovely carves through cover.
Tillakaratne Dilshan 500 runs at 62.50, eight wickets at 15.75
The highest run-getter in the tournament was his usual explosive presence at the top of the Sri Lankan batting order, and his offspin plugged the scoring at the start of the innings. It will be hard for him to top the all-round effort against Zimbabwe - 144 with the bat, and 4 for 4 with the ball. There was also the century in the quarter-finals that swept England aside, and a controlled 73 in the semi-final against New Zealand.
Kumar Sangakkara 465 runs at 93
Sri Lanka's charismatic captain had a great time with the bat, besides being his usual reliable self behind the stumps. Coming in at No. 3, he was on hand to steady the innings in the rare event of the tournament's most prolific opening pair, Dilshan and Upul Tharanga, failing. His consistency through the tournament is highlighted by the lowest score he was dismissed for in the World Cup - 48, and that too after stabilising the innings in the final.
Jonathan Trott 422 runs at 60.28
For someone who was widely considered unsuited to the demands of limited-overs cricket, Trott has done all he can to silence the critics. He became the quickest to 1000 runs in the one-day format, his average remains a stratospheric 55.65 after 25 matches and there were five half-centuries and a 47 in the World Cup. His batting form remained one of the few certainties in England's thrill-a-minute campaign, in which the team's performances veered from amateurish to brilliant.
AB de Villiers 353 runs at 88.25
Though injuries sidelined him from a few matches, de Villiers showed his class in the World Cup. He began the tournament with a couple of centuries - a flawless one against West Indies after the loss of two early wickets, and a powerful one against Netherlands. On a tricky track against New Zealand in the quarter-finals, he was batting like a dream, caressing boundaries while the rest flailed about, before a suicidal attempt for a single ended his innings, after which South Africa crumbled.
Yuvraj Singh 362 runs at 90.50, 15 wickets at 25.13
A few months ago, Yuvraj was talking about how 2010 was his worst year in international cricket, and was struggling to keep his place in the national team. Now he has a Man-of-the-Series award in the one-day World Cup, to go with his decisive performance in the 2007 World Twenty20 triumph. It was a transformation which coach Gary Kirsten called "as good a turnaround I have seen in world sport". Not only did Yuvraj re-discover his touch with the bat, his left-arm spin proved so effective that he was frequently called on to bowl a full 10 overs. He walked off with a record-equalling four Man-of-the-Match awards.
Shahid Afridi 21 wickets at 12.85
The crowds may love Afridi's manic batting, but it was with his legspin that he was devastating in the World Cup. There were five-fors against two Associate nations, though his best performance in the league phase came against Sri Lanka when his variations confounded four top-order batsmen to hand Pakistan victory. The other high-voltage performance was in the quarterfinals, when his four wickets helped shoot out West Indies for 112. Besides the tournament-high 21 wickets, he also pulled off the difficult task of keeping the Pakistan team united.
Zaheer Khan got Upul Tharanga early on, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011
Zaheer Khan: New ball, old ball, I'll wobble them all © AFP
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Graeme Swann 12 wickets at 25.75
Like England, Swann had an eventful World Cup. A listless performance with the ball against India was redeemed with a calm nine-ball 15 to earn a tie. His three-wicket burst seemed to have killed Ireland's chances before a bludgeoning Kevin O'Brien made it a day to forget for England. His crafty bowling set up the prospect of victory against South Africa when all seemed lost, but he couldn't pull it off again when Bangladesh were conjuring a lower-order fightback. The magic was back against West Indies as his late strikes set up a tense victory to keep England alive in the competition.
Dale Steyn 12 wickets at 16
He's been undisputedly the best fast bowler in Tests for several years now, but there remained questions whether he could hit similar heights in limited-overs. At the World Cup, Steyn showed he can. He repeatedly showcased his mastery over the weapons necessary for success in the death overs of the one-day game - the yorker, the slower ball and the bouncer - and mostly relied on his accurate legcutters with the new ball. There's been no drop in pace as well, making him one of the most complete quick bowlers in operation. His headlining performance was against India, a five-for sparking a collapse from 267 for 1 to 296 all out.
Zaheer Khan 21 wickets at 18.76
The pace may no longer be there, but Zaheer has more than adequately replaced that with plenty of guile. India's best bowler with the new ball and the old one was called on whenever the team was in trouble, and he invariably responded. There were no five-fors, but he provided breakthroughs in every match to finish top of the wicket charts with Afridi. The league match against England showed how much the team needed him: as Andrew Strauss and Co were marching towards the target of 339, his burst of reverse-swing produced three wickets to turn a seemingly hopeless match a contest.
Lasith Malinga 13 wickets at 20.76
The injuries are piling up for the man with cricket's most unorthodox action, and he doesn't expect to play in the next World Cup though he's still only 27. That didn't stop him from making a massive impact for the second World Cup in a row. Kenya's batsmen were bamboozled by his inswinging toe-crushers as he nabbed 6 for 38 including a hat-trick. There were big performances in the big games too - three strikes in the semi-final against New Zealand, and two crowd-silencing early blows against India in the final
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Friday, April 8, 2011

CORRUPT SYSTEM..REALLY???

Anna Hazare has become a modern day hero for the Indians.It was about time that somebody woke up for the rights of we Indians. Right from the schools to big offices there is corruption and the problem is that the common man is targeted by this rising corruption. Even if you want to do something right you need to bribe the person who will do your work so that it is done on time.

Question arises,is it the fault of the person who takes bribe,I SAY NO! It is the fault of the people who give bribes and then we say the corruption is rising.

Great! First produce corruption and then say the system is corrupt...that's been our problem but it's time people that we woke up because this is our country, our Nation and it will become better only if we choose to make it better.
The least we can do is support a person fighting for us and our nation.
Thankyou Mr.Anna Hazare for waking me and sure many others...

Friday, January 7, 2011

'Golden Voice' homeless man finds job, home after viral video success

Before this week, the name "Ted Williams" most likely brought to mind the phrase "Teddy Ballgame." Now, the name has become synonymous with "Golden-voiced," as a homeless man with that moniker has shot to stardom as a result of his breathtaking vocal chords.

Recently, videographer Doral Chenoweth III filmed a brief interview with the Brooklyn-born Williams, who -- until recently -- panhandled on the corner of a highway.

Yesterday, the video went viral, and has (at the time of this posting) racked up more than 5 million views on YouTube. This ascent is most likely due in no small part to the , which took up the cause after Reddit user and Columbus-dweller "shiggiddie" posted the video to the site after hearing about the interview on a local radio show.

"I had already seen the immense good the Reddit community is capable of doing," shiggiddie says. "I hoped that maybe through the community I might find out who this Ted Williams character is, and how we might be able to help him get on his feet with some work other redditors might want/need for their businesses, etc."

The results were overwhelming: "I received anywhere from 70 to 80 job offers for Ted in my personal messages alone over the past day and a half, some coming from people claiming to represent the interests of nationwide radio programs, television shows, businesses looking for someone to do their voice systems, ads, ads and more ads, musicians wanting Ted to contribute his voice to their tracks, and even radio hosts wanting him to join their shows as a full-time jockey," shiggiddie says.

"I haven't even gotten to the news sources asking me for more information, of which I'd guess I received personal messages from at least 20 to 25."

The video spread from boards like Reddit to viral culture blogs, leading to appearances on major news outlets -- from print to to television.

In fact, the awestruck Williams recently appeared on , where he he tearfully told viewers that he's on his way back to Brooklyn to reconnect with his 92-year-old mother. From the side of the highway to television to New York -- that's a pretty rapid and drastic progression.

But the trip back to BK isn't the biggest opportunity that this turn of events has presented for Williams -- his lightning-fast ascent to the viral video firmament has also garnered him job offers from the likes of the and the Cleveland Cavaliers (and, by proxy, Quicken Loans). The Cavs also offered him a house.

Quicken Loans President Jay Farner heard about Williams's great talent last night. "We're working on a lot of marketing over here at the company, voiceover work, commercials and websites and all kinds of things for Quicken Loans and a variety of our companies who would need that. People heard the voice and thought that might be a great fit. And when I saw that he was in Ohio, I thought that was excellent because the Cavaliers are right there and we've got a Quicken Loans web center down there. We're kind of partial to helping folks in the Midwest."

Dan Gilbert, the principal owner of Cleveland Cavaliers, is also the founder and chairman of Quicken Loans, so the companies tend to work together rather closely. Still, the job would mostly entail doing voiceovers for the Cavs's arena.

When asked about the housing offer, Farner replied: "Heck, we're in the mortgage business, we're one of the largest lenders in America. Houses are something we know and do pretty well, we figured that it would make sense to find a home for him -- a place he could get established, get on his feet. Hard to start a new job if you don't have a place to call home."

Williams hasn't accepted the offer yet, but Farner says that the talented man seems excited by the prospect -- and the feeling is mutual.

"When you're looking for voice talent or someone to go out there and represent your brand, you could do all the focus groups in the world, you're never going to get 4.5 million people to tell you someone has a great voice," Farner says. "If 4.5 million people think a voice is great, that's about the best focus group you could ever get."