THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-December 24, 2016- Topic 2
R.Ashwin has never been one to hide his ambition.
When his international career was still young, Ashwin said in an interview that
he wanted to dominate the game. There was no hint of braggadocio, just an
unnerving earnestness. On Thursday, the realisation of this dream was formally
recognised. Ashwin became the first
spinner to win cricket’s biggest
individual prize, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, since the award was
instituted 12 years ago. He is just the third bowler, after Dale Steyn and
Mitchell Johnson, to be named ICC Cricketer of the Year. He was also adjudged
Test Cricketer of the Year, only the second Indian after Rahul Dravid to sweep
both awards. Indeed, the voting period — September 14, 2015 to September 20,
2016 — does not fully describe his phenomenal ascent to the top. In that time,
he took 48 wickets at 15.39 and made 336 runs at 42 from eight Tests. He has
added another 55 wickets (24.12) and 377 runs (37.70) in the eight Tests since.
His influence was not limited to one format; in the voting period, Ashwin had
27 T20I wickets in 19 games. By any measure, Ashwin stands alone, an
extraordinary comeback after being dropped for the Adelaide Test in early 2015.
Ashwin’s success has been instrumental in India
becoming the premier Test side this year. There has been a perceptible change
in culture and intent. Virat Kohli announced it when he acknowledged that
bowlers were “the bosses” in Test cricket. He has backed it up, leading the
batting group in shaping contests and empowering his bowlers to win them. There
was a minor storm on social media when Kohli did
not make the ICC’s Test Team of the Year. But his exclusion was easily
explained: his magnificent run with the bat did not coincide completely with
the voting period. He certainly stepped up a level against England, lifting his
career average from the mid-40s to the high-water mark of 50. The context in
which the runs came was more impressive than the volume: every time a game
needed seizing or settling, Kohli attended to it. Teams tend to form themselves
in the image of their captains — so, perhaps, it was not entirely surprising
that India found a hero equal to nearly any task. The experienced cricketers
pulled their weight. Those of more recent vintage — K.L. Rahul, Jayant Yadav
and Karun Nair — appeared to make the transition without missing a beat. The
side had to deal with injuries, which did not permit a settled playing eleven.
But the momentum was unaffected. India will face stiffer challenges, especially
overseas, as it seeks to build a legacy as a world-beater. For now, 2016 has
been a good launch pad.
Vocabulary
Ambition: a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring
determination and hard work.
Example: Her ambition was
to become a model
Synonyms: aspiration, intention, goal, aim, objective, object, purpose, intent, plan
Braggadocio: boastful or arrogant behavior.
Example: With all the
flashy braggadocio behaviour and senseless acts of violence, believe it or not,
there's also a downside to wrestling.
Unnerving: make someone lose courage or confidence.
Example: The bleakness of
his gaze unnerved her
Synonyms: demoralize, discourage, dishearten, dispirit, daunt, alarm, frighten
Earnestness: the quality of being free from pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy.
Example: The sincerity of
his beliefs is unquestionable
Synonyms: honesty, genuineness, truthfulness, integrity, probity
Adjudge: consider or declare to be true or the case.
Example: She was adjudged
guilty
Synonyms: judge, deem, find, pronounce, proclaim, rule, hold, determine
Perceptible: able to be seen or noticed.
Example: A perceptible
decline in public confidence
Synonyms: noticeable, perceivable, detectable, discernible, visible, observable
Magnificent: impressively beautiful, elaborate, or extravagant; striking.
Example: A dramatic
landscape of magnificent mountains
Synonyms: splendid, spectacular, impressive, striking, glorious, superb
Vintage: of, relating to, or denoting wine of high quality.
Example: Vintage claret
Synonyms: high-quality, quality, choice, select, prime, superior, best
Legacy: an amount of money or property left to someone in a will.
Example: Bentham tells the
family that they are about to inherit a legacy from a relative.
Synonyms: bequest, inheritance, heritage, endowment, gift, patrimony