Cricket Quotient — 8

Defiance in the face of crisis reveals the true character of a player. Despite poor form and a back injury, which made him sit on the sidelines of international cricket for over two years, Irfan Pathan never gave up his dream of playing for India. Again. His resilience helped him rediscover his wicket-taking ability. With 21 wickets, including three five-fors, in the ongoing Ranji season, he reclaimed what he always believed in — a place in the Indian ODI team. With Zaheer Khan on the last lap of his career, Pathan couldn’t have timed his comeback better. Hopefully, he’ll grab the opportunity with both hands.

It’s that time of the week when I return with my weekly quiz. I’ve tried to rustle up an interesting set of five questions. Here’s hoping you find them exciting enough…

   

#1 — In 1938, his innings of 232 at Trent Bridge made even Don Bradman say ‘he would have been proud of playing an innings like that’. In the infamous Bodyline series, he made Harold Larwood look like a club-class bowler in the first Test. However, quite tragically, he fell from a cliff and died near his home in Sydney. Name the Aussie legend.

#2 — Who is the only bowler to take a hat-trick in each innings of a Test match?

#3 — Vijay Hazare was the first Indian to score a century in each innings of a Test (116 & 145), which came against Australia in Adelaide during the 1947-48 series. Who was the first player to score two centuries in a Test match against India?

#4 — He played Ranji Trophy for Rajasthan. After migrating to Pakistan, he joined the Sindh Madrassa School as a cricket coach and produced players like Hanif Mohammad and his two brothers Mushtaq and Sadiq. Interestingly, his own son stayed back in India and played Test cricket with great distinction. Name the father-son duo.

#5 — In the last Ahmedabad ODI against the Windies, Virat Kohli was reprimanded for showing dissent. Who was the first player to be fined by an ICC referee for showing dissent?

Answers to the last week’s quiz…

#1 — Basil D’Oliveira, who passed away on Nov 19, ’ll, at the age of 80.

#2— Sir Francis Stanley Jackson. It was he who had discovered KS Ranjitsinhji and gave him his Cambridge Blue.

#3 — England’s fast bowler Peter Lever.

#4 — Sir Donald George Bradman.

#5 — Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards. In short, King Viv, whom Wisden declared as one of the five cricketers of the 20^th century in 2000, alongside Sir Jack Hobbs, Sir Don Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers and Shane Warne.