PARAGRAPH, WORDS AND MEANING
PARAGRAPH OF THE DAY –
Youth power: on India’s U-19 World Cup win –
India’s title triumph in the Under-19 cricket World Cup at the Bay Oval in New Zealand seemed inevitable. Prithvi Shaw’s boys, astutely coached by Rahul Dravid, maintained an unbeaten record through their three-week sojourn. The rousing campaign commenced with a 100-run win against Australia on January 14; in subsequent games, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Pakistan were all emphatically defeated. There were no big-game nerves and even in the much-hyped semifinal against Pakistan, India pocketed a facile 203-run victory. In the summit clash against Australia, Shaw’s boys followed their template of dominance. Australia was bowled out for 216 and India cruised home in 38.5 overs with eight wickets to spare, and enjoyed the added lustre of opener Manjot Kalra’s unbeaten 101. Through the tournament India found diverse heroes. Fittingly, its batting troika of Shaw, Kalra and Shubman Gill, along with seamer Kamlesh Nagarkoti and spinner Anukul Roy, found a berth in the International Cricket Council’s Under-19 World Cup team, essentially a tribute to the best players on view in the championship. Cricketing excellence allied with the resultant celebrity status, especially during the teenage years, can be a double-edged sword and it helped that in the dressing room there was the calming presence of Dravid. As the ecstatic players leapt and photo-bombed after clinching the trophy, Dravid cut through the hype and said that this win should not be the team’s defining memory as each individual cricketer has much more to achieve in his career. Dravid has a point. India has won the Under-19 World Cup on four occasions, including the previous golden runs in 2000, 2008 and 2012. From among these champion sides, only a few graduated to the big stage. Yuvraj Singh and Virat Kohli came through the under-19 ranks and managed to carve a niche for themselves, but Unmukt Chand, who led the team to the Cup in 2012, and then featured in a soft drink advertisement besides writing a book, has been unable to make it to the Indian senior team. He is still finding his feet with the Delhi squad in domestic cricket. Shaw and his mates will be aware that after the spectacular rise under the New Zealand skies, they still have to earn and preserve their respective spots in the State outfits before earning the right to rub shoulders with Kohli and his men. The road towards the high-stakes game of international cricket is long and arduous and history has taught us that not all teenage prodigies can be a Sachin Tendulkar or a Kohli. For Shaw and company, the journey has only begun but their moment in the sun does suggest that Indian cricket’s conveyor belt is moving smoothly along.
WORDS AND MEANING –
1) Inevitable
Meaning: Certain to happen; unavoidable.
Example: “war was inevitable”
Synonyms: Unavoidable, Inexorable
Antonyms: Avoidable, Uncertain
2) Astutely
Meaning: Accurately assessing situations or people; perceptively.
Example: “she astutely pointed out that usually you have to be dead to be a legend”
3) Sojourn
Meaning: A temporary stay.
Example: “her sojourn in Rome”
Synonyms: Stay, Stop
4) Emphatically
Meaning: Without doubt; clearly.
Example: “Jane, though born in California, feels emphatically English”
5) Hyped
Meaning: Promote or publicize (a product or idea) intensively, often exaggerating its benefits.
Example: “an industry quick to hype its products”
Synonyms: Publicize, Promote
6) Pocketed
Meaning: Drive (a ball) into a pocket.
Example: “he pocketed the 8-ball on the break for a victory in the title game”
7) Facile
Meaning: Ignoring the true complexities of an issue; superficial.
Example: “facile generalizations”
Synonyms: Simplistic, Superficial
Antonyms: Thorough, Profound
8) Bowled out
Meaning: In the game of cricket, to make someone have to leave the cricket field by hitting the wicket (= three vertical sticks) behind them with the ball.
9) Cruised
Meaning: Achieve an objective with ease, especially in sport.
Example: “Millwall cruised to a 2–0 win over Leicester”
10) Lustre
Meaning: Glory or distinction.
Example: “a celebrity player to add lustre to the line-up”
Synonyms: Honour, Glory
Antonyms: Dishonour
11) Troika
Meaning: A group of three people.
Example: She is a member of the president’s troika of close advisers.
Synonyms: People in charge
12) Double-edged
Meaning: Having two contradictory aspects or possible outcomes.
Example: “the consequences can be double-edged”
13) Ecstatic
Meaning: Feeling or expressing overwhelming happiness or joyful excitement.
Example: “ecstatic fans filled the stadium”
Synonyms: Joyous, Overjoyed
Antonyms: Miserable
14) Leapt
Meaning: Jump or spring a long way, to a great height, or with great force.
Example: “he leapt on to the parapet”
Synonyms: Jump, Vault
15) Photo-bombed
Meaning: Spoil (a photograph) by unexpectedly appearing in the camera’s field of view as the picture is taken.
Example: “she actually photo-bombed a picture of me with Jonah”
16) Clinching
Meaning: Confirm the winning or achievement of (a match, competition, or victory).
Example: “Johnson scored the goals which clinched victory”
Synonyms: Win, Victory
Antonyms: Lose
17) Cut through Something(the hype)
Meaning: If you cut through something difficult that usually causes problems, you quickly understand it or deal with it so that it does not cause problems for you.
Example: She always manages to cut through the complex theory and get at the facts.
Synonyms: Dealing
18) Niche
Meaning: A comfortable or suitable position in life or employment; a shallow recess, especially one in a wall to display a statue or other ornament.
Example: “he is now head chef at a leading law firm and feels he has found his niche”
Synonyms: Position, Place
19) Spectacular
Meaning: Strikingly large or obvious.
Example: “the party suffered a spectacular loss in the election”
Synonyms: Impressive, Splendid
Antonyms: Unimpressive
20) Arduous
Meaning: Involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring.
Example: “an arduous journey”
Synonyms: Onerous, Taxing
Antonyms: Easy, Effortless
21) Prodigies
Meaning: A young person with exceptional qualities or abilities.
Example: “a Russian pianist who was a child prodigy in his day”
Synonyms: Genius, Mastermind
22) Conveyor belt
Meaning: A continuous moving band of fabric, rubber, or metal used for transporting objects from one place to another.
Example: “a baggage conveyor belt”
