Cricket History and Facts

The correct answer is Ali Bacher. Ali Bacher captained the South African cricket team during their 1970 tour of Australia, which was one of the last series before South Africa's international isolation due to apartheid. He was a prominent South African cricketer and later became an influential administrator.

Muttiah Muralitharan surpassed Wasim Akram's record of 502 ODI wickets by dismissing Gautham Gambhir. This was a significant milestone in ODI cricket history. Muralitharan went on to become the highest wicket-taker in ODIs with 534 wickets.

Lala Amarnath was the first Indian cricketer to score a Test century, achieving this milestone (118 runs) on his debut against England in Mumbai in 1933. This was a historic moment in Indian cricket history. C.K. Nayudu was India's first Test captain but didn't score a century first. Sunil Gavaskar and others came decades later. 'Patoudi' appears to be a misspelling or garbled name.

The question asks about runs scored when a ball hits a helmet 'left on the ground by the fielding team.' This is a trick question - in cricket, 5 penalty runs are awarded when the ball hits a helmet kept behind the wicketkeeper. However, if a helmet is merely lying on the ground elsewhere (not in a protective position), no penalty runs are awarded. The answer of 0 runs is technically correct for this specific phrasing.

Don Bradman holds the record for the most double centuries (scores of 200 or more) in Test cricket with 12 such innings, including two triple centuries. Virender Sehwag has 6 double centuries, while Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have 5 each. Bradman's remarkable batting average of 99.94 further underscores his dominance.

Harbhajan Singh achieved the first Test hat-trick by an Indian bowler against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001. He dismissed Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, and Shane Warne in consecutive balls. This historic performance helped India win the iconic 2001 series after being forced to follow-on.

VVS Laxman scored 281 runs against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001, which remains the highest individual Test score at that venue. This legendary innings was crucial to India's victory after being forced to follow-on, forming part of one of Test cricket's greatest comebacks. The 376-run partnership with Dravid (180) is also iconic.

Eden Gardens in Kolkata is the iconic home stadium for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League. It's one of India's oldest and most famous cricket venues. Deccan Chargers (now defunct) were based in Hyderabad, Kings XI Punjab in Mohali, and RCB in Bangalore.

Eric Simons was appointed as the bowling coach of the Indian national cricket team in early 2010, succeeding Venkatesh Prasad.