Cricket History and Facts

Ravi Shastri hit six sixes in an over while playing for Baroda against Tilak Raj of Baroda in a Ranji Trophy match in 1984-85. Tilak Raj was a left-arm spinner who conceded this rare feat.

Sir Jack Hobbs holds the record for the most first-class centuries with 199 centuries. The English batsman played between 1908-1934 and scored 61,760 runs in first-class cricket.

Lasith Malinga is the first bowler to take four wickets in four consecutive balls in international cricket. He achieved this feat for Sri Lanka against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup.

Andrew Symonds scored the fastest century in T20 cricket (at the time) in just 34 balls for Australia against Victoria in a domestic T20 match in 2004. This was during the early days of T20 cricket.

Australia holds the record for most consecutive ODI wins with 21 victories between 2003-2004 under Ricky Ponting's captaincy. This dominant period included the 2003 World Cup victory.

Sachin Tendulkar is the odd one out because he belongs to an earlier generation - he debuted in 1989 while Sehwag, Kohli, and Gambhir all started their careers in the 2000s and are closer contemporaries.

Charles Bannerman scored the first century in Test cricket history - 165 runs retired hurt in the inaugural Test match between Australia and England at Melbourne in 1876-77.

Brian Lara scored 28 runs in an over against Robin Peterson (South Africa) in 2003 at Johannesburg. This included 4 boundaries and 2 sixes in that over.

In cricket, a batsman can be dismissed in 10 ways: bowled, caught, lbw, run out, stumped, hit wicket, handled the ball, obstructing the field, hit the ball twice, and timed out. Retired out doesn't count as a dismissal in cricket laws. The answer '10' is correct per MCC Laws of Cricket.

A Match referee ensures the Laws of Cricket are upheld and the Spirit of the Game is maintained. The referee addresses serious disciplinary issues, monitors player conduct, and reports on fair play. Option B covers both legal framework (Laws) and ethical conduct (spirit). Option A is incomplete (only spirit), and Option C omits the spirit aspect.

Jim Laker took 10 wickets for 54 runs (10/54) against Australia in 1956, making him the first bowler to claim all 10 wickets in an innings apart from Anil Kumble. The other options with different run totals are incorrect.

Sachin Tendulkar was the first batsman to be given out by the third umpire when the system was introduced in 1992. He was adjudged run out against South Africa in a Test match.

Jim Laker's 19-90 is the best bowling figure in Test cricket. The 5th best is Muttiah Muralitharan's 9-65 (or 9-78 in some sources) against England in 1998. Narendra Hirwani (8-61 and 8-75 on debut) ranks higher, as does Anil Kumble (10-74).

Charles Coventry scored 194* for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in 2009, which at that time equaled the record for highest individual ODI innings (held by Pakistan's Saeed Anwar with 194). The phrasing 'the other batsman' refers to Coventry being the second person to achieve this score. Gary Kirsten held the record earlier (188*), Sanath Jayasuriya's best was 189, and Viv Richards' highest was 189*. The record has since been broken multiple times (Tendulkar 200*, Guptill 237*, Rohit Sharma 264).