The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

What ails the CHAMPIONS?
Abhijit Chatterjee on the Champion’s Trophy fiasco of the Indian team

Dinesh Kartik drops a catch in the tie against the West Indies. Sloppy fielding was one of the chief sore points in the Indian team’s performance in the tournament Photos AFP

THIS is the third of the last four ICC world tournaments where the Indian team has failed to clear the first hurdle and its position on the ICC rankings table will be of no consequence unless the team fares well in crucial ties.

Like in the World Cup in 2007, the Indian squad must collectively take the blame for its miserable showing in the Champions Trophy — 2009. Although a larger part of the blame should obviously fall on the bowlers, none of the Indian bowlers — neither the fast bowlers nor the spinners — could command the kind of respect that a number one (a spot which India was aspiring for before the commencement of the tournament) team has to necessarily have.

The Indian think-tank might attribute the team’s poor showing on the absence of the injured Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh (who was unfortunately injured after the team had landed in South Africa for the tournament), but the fact remains that all the team members performed much below par right through the tournament.

India never recovered from the opening loss to Pakistan as the next match, against Australia, was rained off (but frankly speaking one thought that Australia had an upper hand when rain disrupted the proceedings. At 234 for four in the 43rd over, they would have been the favourites). India did manage to get past a very depleted West Indies squad in their last league outing but by then Australia had recorded a last-ball win over Pakistan to end whatever little hope India had of qualifying for the semi-finals.

Virat Kohli’s batting was one of the few bright spots for India in the tournament

And so much was expected from this squad, especially after its fine showing in the three-nation Compaq Cup tournament in Sri Lanka in the run-up to the Champions Trophy. While India and runners-up Sri Lanka failed to get past the league stage of the Champions Trophy, New Zealand, who had ended third in the Sri Lanka outing, went on to top their pool in the Champions Trophy.

Maybe the luck of the coin did not go Dhoni’s way, but that does not explain the miserable form of the speedsters even on a pitch, which offered them a fair amount of purchase, like in their second match against Australia at Centurion. In this match India went in with five specialist bowlers, but after some tight bowling by Asish Nehra, who really impressed after coming into the squad after a long injury-induced layoff and Praveen Kumar, the likes of Ishant Sharma and even Harbhajan Singh gave away far too many easy runs to the Aussies.

Ishant Sharma, a pale shadow of a bowler who had tormented the Aussies just 18 months ago, bowled with a lot of width making the task of the Aussie batsmen all the more easy. On the other hand Harbhajan Singh, who went for 71 runs from 10 overs against Pakistan, did not make any improvement in the second outing, giving away 54 runs in nine overs without any reward. The only bowler to impress in this rain-hit tie was Amit Mishra who showed what hardwork and dedication could do to anybody’s confidence. His one for 45 from nine overs is not a true reflection of the effort that he put in.

India began their campaign in the tournament miserably, losing to arch rivals Pakistan by a massive margin of 54 runs. In fact, nothing went right for the Indians in the tournament opener as their bowlers as well as acclaimed batsmen failed miserably. The bowlers gave away far too many runs while the batsmen just crumbled in the face of a huge Pakistani total.

One of the bright spots for India in the tournament was Virat Kohli’s mature batting against West Indies; he was the only batsman to score a half-century in the match, finishing on an unbeaten 79. "I am happy to bat up or down the order as the team needs. I got experience of that in the IPL, where I was shuffled around the order a lot," Kohli said after his Man-of-the-Match performance. "I am happy to bat up the order because that gives me more overs to face and I can win matches for the team that way. But if I am to be down the order then that, too, is not much of a problem." How he shapes up in the upcoming one-day series against Australia later this month, will be keenly watched because one thing is sure: many heads will roll when the selectors sit down to pick the squad for matches against Australia.

Green debut
Green racing car to debut in Formula 3 Championship finals on October 17

Worldfirst Formula 3 racing car with Dr Kerry Kirwan, Dr Steve Maggs and James Meredith

THE world's first green racing car, fabricated from woven flax, recycled carbon fibre and carrot pulp, will be making its competitive debut in the Formula 3 Championship finals on October 17.

Kerry Kirwan, University of Warwick, led the research team, which designed and built the world's first fully sustainable Formula 3 racing car. The car runs on biofuel made from chocolate and animal fats and is lubricated with plant oils. It's not just eco-friendly, it is also fast with a top speed of 216 kmph, can achieve 0-100 kmph acceleration in 2.5 seconds, and is turbo-charged to give it more torque.

The research team hopes to prove that high performance, competitive cars can be successfully built from sustainable materials. Kirwan said the idea behind the project was to show that "being sustainable and green can be incredibly sexy, fun and fast".

He added that even though people's perception of motorsport was that it's wasteful, this project aimed "to show ways for the future, for people to race and be green". The project was funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. — IANS

Fitness Mantra
A, B, C of nutrition
Mridula Wattas

ABOUT 40 years ago, food never made news the way it does now. A young middleclass adult ate what his mother prepared for him. Food choices were made on intuitions, traditions or availability.

In the present day, things are different. Imagine yourself in the shoes of a 20-something of today.

On one hand there are umpteen food choices, while on the other there is information explosion about right diets and health scares! The media is full of so-called healthy diets, low carb diets, high protein diets, only vegetable diets, only fruit diets — an endless list of magic diets.

In a world that is raining food, choices about what to eat and how to eat is not easy. It is important to make healthy food choices, so that you end up eating a balanced diet, which results in good nutrition.

What is nutrition?

Nutrition is the result of processes whereby the body takes in and uses food for growth, development and the maintenance of health. The processes include digestion, absorption and metabolism of food.

The food that we eat, needs to be broken down into simpler substances before it can be utilised by our body. This is called digestion. These simpler substances are absorbed into our blood stream and reach various organs.

Metabolism is the term used for thousands of chemical reactions that take place at the cellular level in our body.

How does nutrition help?

It helps to determine the height and weight of an individual. It can also affect the body’s ability to resistance to disease, of one’s life span and mental well-being.

Good nutrition enhances appearance, which is commonly exemplified by shiny hair, clear skin and eyes, erect posture, alert expressions, firm flesh on well developed bone structure.

What are nutrients?

Just like our body, food is also a mixture of chemicals, some of which are essential for normal functions. These essential chemicals are called nutrients.

What is a kilocalorie?

Whatever we eat, gets completely broken down to release energy in a form that cells can use. This energy is measured in kilocalories. In simpler terms it means fuel.

Human body needs all the nutrients. Even the so-called villains like fats and carbs! The catch is that our body requires them in specific amounts. A healthy diet requires a balance of all nutrients. Diet is balanced if one chooses a variety of foods and eats a moderate amount. It is balanced if the amount of energy that one takes in equals the amount one expends in daily exercise.

For the sake of convenience, we have divided food into various food groups. These are: Cereals; pulses; vegetables; fruits; fats, oils, sugar and sweets; milk and milk products; and meat, poultry and fish

Next few weeks we shall take you through all food groups so that you are able to choose the right kind of foods to lead a healthy happy life.

The writer is a dietician, Department of dietetics, PGI, Chandigarh

There are six classes of nutrients

Carbohydrates: These are starches and sugars found in grains, vegetables and fruits and dairy products but meats contain almost none of it. These get converted into a simpler form, which goes into circulation and provides energy to cells and tissues.

Proteins: They help build and maintain body processes but in need can be used as a source of energy. They are found in grains, legumes: but the richest sources are meats and dairy products.

Lipids: are commonly known as oils and fats. These are major source of energy. They are also required, for providing cell structure, making hormones and carrying fat-soluble vitamins in the body. Major sources are oil and oilseeds and meats and dairy products.

Vitamins: They themselves are not a source of energy but are needed to extract energy from carbohydrates, proteins and fats. They also regulate body processes. Fruits and vegetables are important sources but are also present in meats, grains, legumes, dairy products and fats.

Minerals: These are required for a wide range of functions like building of bones and teeth. They also regulate fluid balance in the body and muscle function. They are present in animal as well as plant foods.

Water: It is a very important nutrient. Our body is nearly 60 per cent water. It is important for temperature control, joints lubrication and to transport nutrients and waste.