Who scored the first Test century for India?

The correct answer is B, Lord's. India played its first Test match in June 1932 at Lord's in London, becoming the sixth country to be granted Test status after England, Australia, South Africa, the West Indies and New Zealand. It was a single Test of the tour, England won it, and India's opening bowlers Mohammad Nissar and Amar Singh took early wickets that made the match memorable for Indian followers. Option A, the Oval, is where India won its first Test in England many years later, in 1971. Option C, Headingley in Leeds, and option D, Old Trafford in Manchester, are both famous English grounds but neither hosted that first match. The link to carry into the exam hall is that both of India's World Cup finals of 1983 and the first Test of 1932 were played at Lord's, which is why the ground is asked about so often.

The correct answer is A, C.K. Nayudu. Cottari Kanakaiya Nayudu led India in its first Test match at Lord's in 1932 and is regarded as the first great Indian cricketer; the Board of Control for Cricket in India named its lifetime achievement award after him. Option B, Lala Amarnath, scored India's first Test century in 1933 and captained the first Indian team to tour Australia after independence in 1947 and 1948, so he is a first in two other senses and is offered here for that reason. Option C, Vijay Hazare, was the captain when India won its first Test match, against England at Madras in 1952, and the domestic one-day tournament carries his name. Option D, Vijay Merchant, was a distinguished batter of the same era with a very high first-class average but was not the first captain. Keep the three firsts apart: first captain Nayudu, first century Amarnath, first win under Hazare.

The correct answer is C, the West Indies. On 25 June 1983 India, led by Kapil Dev, bowled out the West Indies for 140 while defending a modest total of 183, and won the Prudential World Cup against a side that had won the first two editions in 1975 and 1979. Mohinder Amarnath was named player of the match in the final and in the semi-final against England. Option A, Australia, had been beaten by India in the group stage of that tournament but did not reach the final. Option B, England, was the host and lost to India in the semi-final at Old Trafford. Option D, Pakistan, lost its semi-final to the West Indies. Two details from the same campaign are asked almost as often: Kapil Dev's unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells, and Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath taking three wickets each in the final.

The correct answer is A, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. India beat Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 2 April 2011 under Dhoni, who finished the chase himself with a six and was named player of the match; it was the first time a team had won a World Cup final on its own soil. Yuvraj Singh was named player of the tournament, and Gautam Gambhir made 97 in the final. Option B, Rahul Dravid, captained India in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, from which the team went out in the group stage. Option C, Virender Sehwag, opened the batting in the 2011 final but never captained India in a World Cup. Option D, Sourav Ganguly, captained the side that reached the 2003 World Cup final in South Africa and lost to Australia. Dhoni is also the only captain to have won all three major white-ball trophies of the International Cricket Council.

The correct answer is A, Pakistan. At the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi in February 1999 Anil Kumble took ten wickets for 74 runs in Pakistan's second innings, becoming only the second bowler in the history of Test cricket to take all ten in an innings, after Jim Laker of England, who did it against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956. Option B, Australia, was the side against which Kumble took many of his other famous hauls, which is why it is the common distractor here. Option C, Sri Lanka, and option D, England, are unconnected with the feat. Two related facts are worth keeping: Kumble is the highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket, and the only other bowler to take ten in an innings since 1999 is Ajaz Patel of New Zealand, who did it in Mumbai. A question may also ask for the ground, which was the Feroz Shah Kotla.