World Cup Cricket 2011

History Of World Cup

Cricket World Cup history has been fascinating and has witnessed some teams getting transformed from Majors to minnows and vice versa. The rich history of Cricket World Cup includes some interesting facts, figures and memories.

Cricket World Cup history starts from the year 1975, when the first World Cup was held in England. Eight teams participated in that World Cup and it was a huge success. West Indies were the winner in the inaugural World Cup. The final was between West Indies and Australia. West Indies won the game by 18 runs.

Cricket World Cup history then witnessed the second World Cup in the year 1979, once again in England. Again eight teams participated in this event and once again West Indies emerged as the winners. The format was same as 1975. Final was between West Indies and England. West Indies beat England by 92 runs.

History of Cricket World Cup then includes one of the most remarkable chapters in the Cricket World Cup history – India defeating the mighty West Indies. Out of the eight teams, only Zimbabwe was the minnows, Sri Lanka already had the Test status in the year 1982. Zimbabwe defeated the mighty Australians, but India was the real star of the tournament, as they come out from a situation of 17-5 against the minnows Zimbabwe and then managed to defeat West Indies by 43 runs.

The history of Cricket World Cup took a step outside England, as the tournament was hosted for the first time outside England. India and Pakistan were the joint hosts of the tournament. The final was between Australia and England and the former managed to run away with the title by just 7 runs. This is still the closest World Cup final, when one considers the World Cup of ODIs.

Cricket World Cup history got richer and richer, as the world entered into the fifth World Cup. This time, the hosts were Australia and New Zealand. With this, another venue was added in the history of Cricket World Cup. Pakistan was the new world champions, pinning England in a tense final that ended in a 22 run Pakistani victory. Imran Khan got retired after winning the World Cup for his team. This time, the number of teams was nine.

With the 1996 World Cup, history of Cricket World Cup was once again made on the pitches of the sub continent, as India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were the joint hosts of the World Cup. This World Cup got a new winner in Sri Lanka. The minnows of the Cricketing world suddenly grew up to the levels of the Big Boys of the game. They remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, as they got a walkover against Australia and West Indies, as both the teams refused to play in the island country due to security reasons. Sri Lanka though, showed what it takes to beat the best team of the tournament, as they won the finals by 6 wickets against the Australians.

Cricket World Cup history saw another U turn, when the World Cup returned to England after a span of 16 years. As the trend started from the last World Cup that Australia would be playing against a team from Sub continent, Pakistan was the finalist this time. Though, this wasn’t their day as they were bundled out for a mere 123 by the mighty Australians. This World Cup victory marks the reign of Australian Cricket over the world of Cricket that lasted for almost a decade.

In 2003, Cricket World Cup history unfolds the drama in yet another venue – South Africa. The World Cup saw India’s reformation into one of the stronger sides of the world, which got defeated to only Australia, twice; once in the league games and the second one was the finals. India lost the finals to Australia by a huge margin of 122 runs.

History of Cricket World Cup unfolded its last chapter till date in yet another venue – West Indies. The group of island countries marked the reign of another Aussie victory in the World Cup finals. Again, the trend set back in 1996 World Cup with the finals between Australia and a sub continent country, continued as this time the finalists was Sri Lanka. Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 53 runs to complete their third straight World Cup victory and fourth World Cup victory overall.

ICC World Cup Cricket 2011 Schedule

The 14^th edition of ICC World Cup cricket tournament will be co-hosted by three South Asian test playing counties: Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. ICC World Cup 2011 kicks off with the opening ceremony scheduled to take place at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur in Bangladesh on 17 February 2011. The same venue will host the opening game of the tournament between Bangladesh and India on 19 February. Out of total 49 matches in the tournament, India will host highest 29 games including a quarter final and the tournament final. Sri Lanka will organize 12 matches including a quarter final as well as a semi final, while Bangladesh will stage 8 games including 2 quarter finals. Except the opening game, India will play all of their group stage matches at home; while Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will play the group stage matches in front of their home crowd.

India will host its first match on 20 February when Kenya and New Zealand will face each other at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai. The first game in Sri Lanka will be held on the same day at Hambantota where Sri Lankan team will take on Canada. Pakistan was one of the co-hosts of the tournament initially, but was stripped off the host status on security ground by ICC. Pakistan will play all of their matches in Sri Lanka unless they reach the semi final. If Pakistan can get into the last four of the tournament, they have to travel to India.

Tournament Venues

All of the 49 matches will be held in 13 different venues across the three countries. Except two new venues in Sri Lanka (Hambantota and Pallekele), the rest of them are test venues including India’s 8 well-known test grounds. Here, I am giving the names of the venues:

India

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai,

Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad,

Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur,

Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi,

Eden Gardens, Kolkata,

M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore,

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh,

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Bangladesh

Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka

Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong

Sri Lanka

Hambantota,

Pallekele,

R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

Format of the Tournament

There are 14 teams who will be participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 4 associate member countries. The test playing teams have automatically qualified for the tournament, while the 4 associate members have come through the qualifying tournament held in South Africa earlier this year. The four associate members are: Ireland, Canada, Netherlands and Kenya.

The format of ICC World Cup 2011 is not same to that of the previous world cup that took place in West Indies in 2007. All of the 14 teams are divided into two groups of 7 teams each. In the group stage, each team will play against all other group members once in a round robin league system.

Group A: Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya

Group B: India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands.

In 2007 world cup, there was a ‘Super Eight’ phase involving 8 teams who qualified through group stage, and four best teams from ‘Super Eight’ progressed to the semi final. However, there is no super eight phase in 2011 world cup. In stead, top four teams from each group in terms of points achieved will qualify for the quarter final. There are four quarter finals scheduled to take place on 23 March, 24 March, 25 March and 26 March. That means knock out stage starts just after the group stage. Four winners of the four quarter finals will get into the semi final of the tournament. The winners of the semi finals will meet each other in the tournament final at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 2 April 2009.

The probable reason behind the format change is perhaps to ensure that each of the participating teams play at least 6 games even if they fail to qualify for the quarter final. Last year, two test playing nations: India and Pakistan- failed to reach the ‘Super Eight’ round and had to go back home, having played only 2 matches. The early exit of the two cricket powerhouses caused huge loss for the TV channels, sponsors as well as for those who bought time slots for TV commercials beforehand to promote their products. That is why, ICC has now ensured that each of the teams will play at least 6 games in the 2011 tournament.

Here, I am giving the full schedule of the ICC World Cup 2011 tournament:

Match	Date	Competing Teams	Time	Venue
No Match	Feb 17 2011 Thu	Opening Ceremony of ICC World Cup 2011	TBA	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
Group Stage	Feb 19 2011 Sat	India vs Bangladesh	TBA	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
	Feb 20 2011 Sun	Sri Lanka vs Canada	TBA	Hambantota
		Kenya vs New Zealand	TBA	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
	Feb 21 2011 Mon	Australia vs Zimbabwe	TBA	Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
	Feb 22 2011 Tue	England vs Netherlands	TBA	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
	Feb 23 2011 Wed	Kenya vs Pakistan	TBA	Hambantota
	Feb 24 2011 Thu	South Africa vs West Indies	TBA	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
	Feb 25 2011 Fri	Bangladesh vs Ireland	TBA	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
		Australia vs New Zealand	TBA	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
	Feb 26 2011 Sat	Pakistan vs Sri Lanka	TBA	Colombo
	Feb 27 2011 Sun	India vs England	TBA	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
	Feb 28 2011 Mon	Netherlands vs West Indies	TBA	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
		Canada vs Zimbabwe	TBA	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
	Mar 1 2011 Tue	Kenya vs Sri Lanka	TBA	Colombo
	Mar 2 2011 Wed	England vs Ireland	TBA	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
	Mar 3 2011 Thu	Canada vs Pakistan	TBA	Colombo
		Netherlands vs South Africa	TBA	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
	Mar 4 2011 Fri	Bangladesh vs West Indies	TBA	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
		New Zealand vs Zimbabwe	TBA	Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
	Mar 5 2011 Sat	Australia vs Sri Lanka	TBA	Colombo
	Mar 6 2011 Sat	India vs Ireland	TBA	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
		England vs South Africa	TBA	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
	Mar 7 2011 Mon	Canada vs Kenya	TBA	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
	Mar 8 2011 Tue	New Zealand vs Pakistan	TBA	Pallekele
	Mar 9 2011 Wed	India vs Netherlands	TBA	Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
	Mar 10 2011 Thu	Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe	TBA	Pallekele
	Mar 11 2011 Fri	Bangladesh vs England	TBA	Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
		Ireland vs West Indies	TBA	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
	Mar 12 2011 Sat	India vs South Africa	TBA	Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
	Mar 13 2011 Sun	Canada vs New Zealand	TBA	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
		Australia vs Kenya	TBA	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
	Mar 14 2011 Mon	Bangladesh vs Netherlands	TBA	Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong
		Pakistan vs Zimbabwe	TBA	Pallekele
	Mar 15 2011 Tue	Ireland vs South Africa	TBA	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
	Mar 16 2011 Wed	Australia vs Canada	TBA	M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
	Mar 17 2011 Thu	England vs West Indies	TBA	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
	Mar 18 2011 Fri	New Zealand vs Sri Lanka	TBA	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
		Ireland vs Netherlands	TBA	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
	Mar 19 2011 Sat	Bangladesh vs South Africa	TBA	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
		Australia vs Pakistan	TBA	Colombo
	Mar 20 2011 Sun	Kenya vs Zimbabwe	TBA	Eden Gardens, Kolkata
		India vs West Indies	TBA	MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai
Quarter Final	Mar 23 2011 Sat	TBA vs TBA	TBA	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
	Mar 24 2011 Thu	TBA vs TBA	TBA	Colombo
	Mar 25 2011 Fri	TBA vs TBA	TBA	Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
	Mar 26 2011 Sat	TBA vs TBA	TBA	Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad
Semi Final	Mar 29 2011 Tue	TBA vs TBA	TBA	Colombo
	Mar 30 2011 Wed	TBA vs TBA	TBA	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Final	Apr 2 2011 Sat	TBA vs TBA	TBA	Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

World Cup 2011 Umpires

ICC Umpire selection panel has announced the 18 umpires’ team for the ICC World Cup 2011 which will start from 19 February, 2011 in Dhaka. Enamul Haque will be the reserve umpire at the World Cup who will officiate in the warm up matches and during the World Cup, if required. Out of 18 umpires’ team, 12 of them belong to Elite Panel of ICC Umpires while the rest umpires including reserve umpire Enamul Haque belong to International Panel of Umpires and referees.

The ICC Umpire selection panel consisted of David Richardson (ICC General Manager - Cricket), Srinivas Venkataraghavan (former elite panel umpire), David Lloyd (former player, coach, umpire and now television commentator) and Ranjan Madugalle (ICC Chief Match Referee). Among 18 umpires, 6 are from Asia, 5 from Australia, 3 from England, 2 from New Zealand and 1 each from South Africa and West Indies.

Among 6 Asian umpires, 2 are from India namely Shavir Tarapore and Amish Saheba, 2 from Pakistan namely Asad Rauf and Aleem Dar, 2 from Sri Lanka namely Ashoka de Silva and Kumar Dharmasena. Reserved umpire Enamul Haque has been selected from Bangladesh. It is very hard to say who will be the lime light among 18 umpires at World Cup 2011. But among these umpires some are extremely popular among cricket followers. Billy Bowden, Simon Tauffel, and Aleem Dar have their own charisma on the field and off the field.
Five referees are also selected by the ICC selection panel. All these selected referees belong to the Elite Panel of ICC Referees and are considered as the best cricket referees.

Umpire	Country	Panel
Asad Rauf	Pakistan	Elite
Billy Bowden	New Zealand	Elite
Billy Doctrove	West Indies	Elite
Aleem Dar	Pakistan	Elite
Simon Taufel	Australia	Elite
Steve Davis	Australia	Elite
Tony Hill	New Zealand	Elite
Asoka de Silva	Sri Lanka	Elite
Ian Gould	England	Elite
Daryl Harper	Australia	Elite
Marais Erasmus	South Africa	Elite
Rod Tucker	Australia	Elite
Shavir Tarapore	India	International
Bruce Oxenford	Australia	International
Amish Saheba	India	International
Richard Kettleborough	England	International
Nigel Llong	England	International
Kumar Dharmasena	Sri Lanka	International
Enamul Haque (reserve)	Bangladesh	International
Referee	Country
Ranjan Madugalle	Sri Lanka
Roshan Mahanama	Sri Lanka
Andy Pycroft	Zimbabwe
Jeff Crowe	New Zealand
Chris Broad	England

Screen Award 2010 Winners

Best Bollywood Movie - 3 Idiots for Vidhu Vinod Chopra – Producer

Best Bollywood Director - Rajkumar Hirani for 3 Idiots

Best Bollywood Actor - Amitabh Bachchan for Paa

Best Bollywood Actress - Vidya Balan for Paa

Best Bollywood Actor for popular - Shahid Kapoor for Kaminey

Best Popular Actress - Kareena Kapoor for both 3 Idiots and Kurbaan

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Rishi Kapoor for Love Aaj Kal

Best Bollywood Actress in a Supporting Role - Arundhati Naag for Paa

Best Bollywood Actor in a Negative Role - Boman Irani for 3 Idiots

Best Bollywood Actor in a Comic Role - Omi Vaidya for 3 Idiots

Best Bollywood Child Actor - Pratik Katare for Paa

Best Bollywood Music - AR Rahman for Delhi 6

Best Playback Singer Male - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for Aaj Din Chadya

Best Playback Singer for Female - Kavita Seth for Iktara – Wake Up Sid

Best Bollywood Lyrics - Irshad Kamil for Chor Bazari – Love Aaj Kal

Best Bollywood Story - Imtiaz Ali for Love Aaj Kal

Best Screenplay - Rajkumar Hirani, V.V Chopra and Abhijat Joshi 3 Idiots

Best Bollywood Dialogue - Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshifor 3 Idiots

Best Bollywood Editing - Rajkumar Hirani for 3 Idiots

Best Bollywood Special Effects - Charles Darby for Aladin

Best Bollywood Cinematography - Rajeev Ravi for Dev D

Best Bollywood Choreography - Bosco Caesar for Zoobi Doobi – 3 Idiots

Best Bollywood Action - Vijayan Master for Wanted

Best Bollywood Debut Male - Omi Vaidya for 3 Idiots

Best Bollywood Debut Female - Mahie Gill for Dev D

Best Bollywood Debut Director - Nandita Das for Firaaq

Best Bollywood Entertainer of the year - Katrina Kaif

Lifetime Achievement Award - Javed Akhtar

Best Bollywood Cast - Luck By Chance

Best Jodi for Star Plus - Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan

Best Bollywood Jodi for Decade - Shahrukh Khan and Kajol

Biography Of Great Personalities

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Facts About Trees

• Trees receive an estimated 90% of their nutrition from the atmosphere and only 10% from the soil.

• Trees renew our air supply by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen.

• Trees lower air temperature by evaporating water in their leaves.

• A tree does not reach its most productive stage of carbon storage for about 10 years.

• One of the tallest soft wood trees is the General Sherman, a giant redwood sequoia of California. General Sherman is about 275 ft or 84 m high with a girth of 25 ft or 8 m.

• Dendrochronology is the science of calculating a tree’s age by its rings.

• A mature birch tree can produce up to 1 million seeds per year.

• Trees receive an estimated 90% of their nutrition from the atmosphere and only 10% from the soil.

• Trees grow from the top, not from the bottom as is commonly believed. A branch’s location on a tree will only move up the trunk a few inches in 1000 years.

• The largest area of forest in the tropics remains the Amazon Basin, amounting to 81.5 million acres.

• Tree leaves help trap and remove tiny particles of soot and dust which otherwise damages human lungs.

• By creating shade, trees moderate temperatures both globally and in the micro-climates of cities and counties.

• Trees create buffers to reduce noise.

• The presence of trees in urban neighborhoods has been linked to less crime.

• Tree roots stabilize soil and prevent erosion.

• The cottonwood tree seed is the seed that stays in flight the longest. The tiny seed is surrounded by ultra-light, white fluff hairs that can carry it on the air for several days.

• Tree rings provide precise information about environmental events, including volcanic eruptions.

• One acre of trees removes up to 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

• Trees improve water quality by slowing and filtering rain water, as well as protecting aquifers and watersheds.

Facts About Pollution

Facts About Pollution


• The introduction of impurities into the environment that causes instability and harm to the ecosystem is called pollution. Pollution causes harmful effects to human body, animals and our environment and we are still not doing anything to stop it. Just thinking about economic growth only we keep throwing wastage here and there. So, we have to get together and have to do something on this very critical issue.

• Pollution may be of any kind such as land, air, water, etc becoming the most major cause of concern to the human race today. All kinds of pollutants have adverse effects on the ecosystem. Here are some facts about pollution.

• Industries and vehicles are considered as major sources of pollution and the countries that are contributing most in terms of these aspects are China, India and United states. Emissions from vehicles are producing around 70% of the air pollution. According to the data of 2007, emission of carbon dioxide in China was around 6.01 billion tons but it was 5.90 billion tons in America. India is one of the top 10 worst pollution producing countries in the world. The historical monument TajMahal whose color is getting yellow day by day proves the adversity of air pollution in India.

• According to research made by world health organization, around 2.4 million people die every year because of air pollution.

• Use of pesticides to kill pests and to enhance the growth of crop also has adverse effects on human health and environment. In US, farmers are using 2.2 billion pounds of pesticides annually.

• Garbage from land is contaminating water bodies. Many industries are still damping their wastes in water bodies like lake, oceans or rivers. Bacteria originated because of this are responsible for causing of about 250 million water borne diseases annually. Due to these diseases 5 to 10 million deaths are occurring every year.

Facts About Light

Facts About Light



• The speed of light is generally rounded down to 186,000 miles per second. In exact terms it is 299,792,458 m/s (metres per second – that is equal to 186, 287.49 miles per second).

• It takes 8 minutes 17 seconds for light to travel from the Sun’s surface to the Earth.

• Every second around 100 lightning bolts strike the Earth.

• Every year lightning kills 1000 people.

• The currently accepted value is 299 792 km/s based on several measurements.

• Red, green and blue are the primary colours of light. Mixing them in various ways will make all other colours, including white.

• Light is a form of energy which our sense of sight can detect. It is made of electro-magnetic radiation and travels in a straight path.

• The bending of light as it passes from one transparent substance to another, like air to water, is called refraction.

• When sunlight is intercepted by a drop of water in the atmosphere, some of the light refracts into the drop, reflects from the drop’s inner surface, and then refracts out of the drop. The first refraction separates the sunlight into its component colours, and the second refraction increases the separation. The result is a rainbow.

• There are different colours of light because they are light waves which have different wavelengths. Red light has the longest wavelength while violet light has the shortest wavelength.

• The light bulb was invented in 1879 by Thomas Alva Edison.

• When you turn on a light bulb only 10 per cent of the electricity used is turned into light, the other 90 per cent is wasted as heat.

• Low energy light bulbs last on average up to 12 times longer than traditional fluorescent bulbs.

• Low energy light bulbs last on average up to 12 times longer than traditional fluorescent bulbs.

• A heavy coat of dust can block up to half of the light.

Facts About Flowers

Facts About Flowers




• The spice saffron comes from a certain type of crocus.

• Tulip bulbs can be used in place of onions for cooking.

• Women prefer pastel colored roses, men on the other hand prefer red.

• The creamy-white bloom of the magnolia tree was designated the state flower of Louisiana in 1900 because of the abundance of trees throughout the state. Magnolia is an evergreen and the flower is usually fragrant. After the six to twelve petals of the flower have fallen away the large cone shaped fruit of the magnolia is exposed.

• The cactus family is divided into more than 100 genera. For simplicity North American cacti are placed into five groups: the prickly pears, the saguaro cactus group, the hedgehog cacti, the barrel cacti, and the pin-cushion and fishhook cacti.

• Germany’s national flower, centaurea is related with the emperor of old Germany. It has been called the “Emperor’s flower”. Because of the authoritative language of the flower’s name, it naturally has been considered the national flower. Its status was not changed after the republic of Germany was established.

• The rose is the best-known symbol of beauty and love. A single rose signifies simplicity.

• Tulips are one of the fastest developing flowers. They can grow up to an inch a day after being cut.

• The scientific name for flowering plants is angiosperm, which means “seed bearing” from the Greek angos meaning “box” and sperm, “seed”, which comes from the ancient root “sper-”, meaning to scatter, from which we also get “sprout”.