cricket - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: Shanta Rangaswamy

Explanation:
In a move that will potentially give a much-needed impetus to Women’s Cricket in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has introduced the women’s category in their Lifetime Achievement Awards.

This is recognising the stellar contribution of Indian women cricketers to the sport in India.

The first awardee in the category, who will be felicitated on International Women’s Day on March 8, is former India captain Shanta Rangaswamy.

Apart from Mr. Vaman Viswanath Kumar and late Ramakant Desai have been nominated for the BCCI Special Award in recognition of their yeoman services to Indian Cricket.

About Shanta Rangaswamy

• Chennai-born Rangaswamy played 16 Tests between 1976 and 1991, and 19 ODIs between 1981 and 1986.
• In her Test career, she captained eight of the matches in 1976-77 and four in 1983-84, and scored 750 runs at 32.60 including the first ever century scored by a woman cricketer against New Zealand, in 1986.
• In her ODI stint, she captained 16 matches and scored 287 runs.
• The right-handed batter and bowler who bowled at a medium pace took 21 wickets at a bowling average of 31.61, and clocked a best analysis of 4-42 against England.
• The 63-year-old has also won the Arjuna award in 1976, and continues to contribute to the cricketing sphere as a cricket writer, coach, and selector for the women's team.
• She also holds an executive position, namely General Manager, at Canara Bank, for its Bengaluru Region.

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
Indian off-spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin became the fastest cricketer to take 250 wickets in Test matches.

He achieved this feat in his 45th test match played against Bangladesh.

In his record 250th test wicket, he dismissed Bangladesh’s captain Mushfiqur Rahim.

With this, Ashwin surpassed previous record held by Australian fast bowler Dennis Keith Lillee, who had reached the milestone of 250 Test wickets in 48 matches.

Ravichandran Ashwin is sixth Indian bowler to reach 250 test wickets.

Earlier in 2016, Ashwin achieved the feat of taking fastest 200 wickets in Test in his 37th test.

He had beaten Pakistan’s Waqar Younis and Australia’s Dennis Lillee who had taken 200 wickets in 38 test matches.

Ravichandran Ashwin: Know More

• Born: 17 September 1986 (age 30)
• Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India
• Nickname: Ash
• Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
• Batting style: Right-handed
• Bowling style: Right-arm off spin
• Role: Bowling all-rounder

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
India defeated Pakistan by nine wickets to lift the T20 World Cup for Blind title on 12^th Feb 2017 in Bangalore.

Set a target of 198 runs to win, India chased down the total with the loss of just one wicket and with 14 balls to spare.

This was the second edition of the tournament, with India having won the inaugural edition back in 2012.

India had beaten Pakistan in the final of the 2012 tournament too, winning that match by 29 runs.

Sports Minister Vijay Goel congratulated the Indian team for lifting T20 World Cup for Blind for the second successive edition after defeating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final at Bengaluru.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also joined those congratulating the Indian team.

"Delighted that India won the Blind T20 World Cup. Congratulations to the team. India is proud of their accomplishment," the PM tweeted.

ANSWER: Betty Wilson

Explanation:
Two of the greatest top order Aussie batsmen David Boon and Matthew Hayden have been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

Australia's female Don Bradman, Betty Wilson became the second female cricketer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame too.

Boon played 107 tests from 1984 to 1996 and scored 7422 runs at 3.65 s an opener and No.3 player.

He featured in 181 ODIs. Since retirement, he has served as an administrator, selector and ICC match referee.

Player of the match in the 1987 World Cup Final against England, he ended his career in 1999 with more than 23,000 first class runs.

Hayden played 103 Tests from 1994-2009. With 8625 runs at 50.73, he is fifth on the list of all time test run scorers in Australia.

Hayden also secured 380 against Zimbabwe at the WACA in 2003– this was the highest test score by any player till Brian Lara with 400 in 2004.

Wilson is the second women cricketer to be included, after 2014 inductee Belinda Clark. Wilson died in 2010 at age 88, averaging 57.46 in test matches during the 40s and 50s. She took 68 wickets with an average of 11.80.

She was the first player of either gender to score 10 wickets in the test and a century in 1958. In 1960, Alan Davidson was the first man to match this feat. Wilson became the first woman player to also take a test hat-trick.

Boon, Hayden and Wilson will be inducted into the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on 23rd Jan 2017.

This takes number of inductees to 46 since inception in 1996.

Hall of Fame inductees

• Belinda Clark
• Alan Davidson
• George Giffen
• Adam Gilchrist
• Bill Woodfull
• Betty Wilson
• Steve Waugh
• Mark Waugh
• Shane Warne
• Doug Walters
• Charlie Turner
• Victor Trumper
• Hugh Trumble
• Jeff Thomson
• Mark Taylor
• Fred Spofforth
• Bob Simpson
• Clarrie Grimmett
• Wally Grout
• Neil Harvey
• Lindsay Hassett
• Matthew Hayden
• Ian Healy
• Clem Hill
• Bill Lawry
• Dennis Lillee
• Jack Ryder
• Bill Ponsford
• Bill O'Reilly
• Monty Noble
• Ray Lindwall
• Charles Macartney
• Rod Marsh
• Stan McCabe
• Glenn McGrath
• Graham McKenzie
• Keith Miller
• Arthur Morris
• Ian Chappell
• Greg Chappell
• Sir Donald Bradman
• Allan Border
• David Boon
• John Blackham
• Richie Benaud
• Warwick Armstrong

ANSWER: a game on cricket

Explanation:
JetSynthesys, a digital and technology company on 11th Jan 2017 announced the launch of a game on cricket called “Sachin Saga Warm Up” under the gaming arm Playizzon.

The company is associated with cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar who trains players to gain expertise in playing cricket.

A batting game where players across the globe can complete in real time, this 2 minute powerplay allows users to get assistance from Sachin on shot selection.

The choice of play is determined based on where the ball pitches and what kind of delivery it is.

Game targets 8-45 year olds and is made in 7 languages.

The game will serve as a prequel to Sachin Saga where gamers across age groups can play an exciting new format of cricket digitally.

Know More About Sachin Tendulkar

• Born: 24 April 1973, Mumbai
• Height: 1.65 m
• Education: Kirti M. Doongursee College
• Movies: Sachin: A Billion Dreams
• Awards: Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan

ANSWER: Virat Kohli

Explanation:
India’s Test captain Virat Kohli was on 27 Dec 2016 named Cricket Australia’s ODI team of the year.

He was earlier picked as Captain of the ICC ODI team of the year.

Cricket Australia stated Kohli played 10 ODIs in 2016

He scored back to back centuries against Australia in Jan 2016 and 154 against New Zealand.

Currently, he averages an incredible 90.10 in 59 successful run chases for India.

Cricket Australia’s ODI Team of Year:

• Virat Kohli (India, Captain)
• David Warner (Australia)
• Quinton de Kock (South Africa, Wicket Keeper)
• Steve Smith (Australia)
• Babar Azam (Pakistan)
• Mitchell Marsh (Australia)
• Jos Buttler (England)
• Jasprit Bumrah (India)
• Imran Tahir (South Africa)

Know More About Virat Kohli


• He is a right handed batsman.
• Ranked 8^th in 2016 ESPN list of famous athletes.
• Debuted in 2016.
• Captained the U-19 team to victory in the 2008 World Cup in Malaysia.
• Made ODI debut at age 19 and test debut in 2011.
• Ranked number 1 in ICC ranking for ODI batsmen for the first time in 2013.
• Won the Man of the Tournament in ICC T20 in 2014 and 2016.
• Only batsman in the world to average more than 50 across all game formats.

ANSWER: Both a and b

Explanation:
Ravichandran Ashwin on 22^nd Dec 2016 won the coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.

Ashwin was chosen for the award after being adjudged the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year.

With this, he became the second Indian player after Rahul Dravid to bag the two prestigious prizes in the same year.

Ace cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar won the prestigious award in 2010.

Other recipients of the trophy include Andrew Flintoff, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Mitchell Johnson and others.

Ravichandran Ashwin: Know More

• Right handed batsman.
• Right arm off break bowler.
• Plays for Rising Pune Supergiants in IPL.
• Ashwin is the fastest Indian bowler to reach the 50,100, 150 and 200 wicket mark in Test - cricket.
• He is the only bowler in recent times to bowl the carrom ball, besides Ajantha Mendis of Sri Lanka.

Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy: Know More


• Cricket trophy awarded by ICC.
• Winner is chosen world player of the year.
• It was named after former West Indies cricket captain Sir Garfield Sobers.
• Cricketer’s name was chosen by a panel comprising Richie Benaud, Sunil Gavaskar and Michael Holding.
• Trophy was first awarded in 2004 to Rahul Dravid.
• International crystal manufacturer Swarowski has handcrafted the trophy.
• Trophy features a red crystal cricket ball studded with 4200 Swarowksi crystal chantons, which rests on a brass hand extended from the gold plated base.
• In 2015, the trophy was awarded to cricketer Steven Smith.

ANSWER: Mahinder Pal Singh

Explanation:
For the first time, a Sikh has secured a place at Pakistan’s national cricket academy.

Mahinder Pal Singh, who hails from Nankana Sahib in Lahore, is among the list of top 30 emerging cricketers in the country, according to news reports.

Pakistan’s cricket team has many Hindus and Christians. But the cricketing history has seen only 7 non Muslim cricketers representing the country.

Singh is the first Pakistani Sikh and the 8th non Muslim to represent Pakistan.

Know About the Pakistan Cricket Board

• Sport: Cricket
• Jurisdiction: Pakistan
• Abbreviation: PCB
• Founded: 1948
• Affiliation: International Cricket Council
• Affiliation date: 28 July 1952
• Headquarters: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
• Chairman: Shahryar Khan

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
Indian off-spinner R. Ashwin has surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for test bowlers after superb outing in the first test against West Indies in Antigua.

• Ashwin has top ranked the 2015 year end rankings.
• He replaced Yasir Shah to grab the number one ranking for bowlers.

ANSWER: Oldest visiting player to play test on English soil in 3 decades

Explanation:
Pakistan’s captain Misbah-ul-Haq became the oldest captain to score a Test hundred after scoring 110 against England at the Lord’s on 14th July.

• The 42 year old cricketer became the oldest captain to score Test hundred.
• He is also the oldest visiting player to play a test on English soil in the past 3 decades.
• Previous oldest player was Somachandra de Silva of Sri Lanka at 42 years and 73 days. Misbah is 42 years and 47 days old.
• He was also the ODI captain till his requirement from ODI cricket after the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
• He scored the fastest test half century equalling the record of Viv Richards which was later broken by Brendon McCulluam.