Cricket History and Facts

Sachin Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973. This is a well-documented fact in cricket history. Option B has the correct date despite a minor spelling error in 'April'.

Sachin Tendulkar made his One Day International debut against Pakistan on December 18, 1989. He was dismissed for a duck (0 runs) after facing only two balls. 16 was his score in his Test debut innings.

In 1992, Sachin Tendulkar became Yorkshire's first overseas professional player. This was historically significant as Yorkshire had previously only had English players.

In 1992, at age 19, Sachin became the youngest player to reach 1000 runs in Test cricket. This was one of his early records.

During the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar scored two centuries: 127* against Kenya and 137 against Sri Lanka. He was the tournament's leading run-scorer, but finished with exactly two hundreds.

Sachin Tendulkar scored 9 international centuries in 1998 - this was one of his most prolific years. This included both Test and ODI centuries.

Sachin Tendulkar's highest Test score is 248* (not out) against Bangladesh in 2004. His highest ODI score at the time this question was framed was 186* against New Zealand in 1999 (he later scored 200* in 2010). The asterisk (*) denotes 'not out', making option B correct with both scores having the notation. Option D is incorrect because 186 without the asterisk incorrectly implies he was out.

Sachin Tendulkar took 102 catches in Test cricket and 132 catches/stumpings combined in ODIs. The distinction is that the Test figure (102) is catches only, while the ODI figure (132) includes both catches and stumpings as a wicketkeeper. Sachin occasionally kept wickets in ODIs, which accounts for the higher combined figure. Option D correctly shows 102 (Tests) and 132 (ODIs).

In Australian cricket terminology, extra runs are traditionally called 'sundries'. This distinguishes them from other international terms like 'extras'. The other options (Excessive, Spare, Superfluous) are not cricket terminology.

There are 10 standard ways to dismiss a batsman in international cricket: bowled, caught, lbw, stumped, run out, hit wicket, hit the ball twice, obstructing the field, handled the ball, and timed out. This is a fundamental rule of cricket.

The official rules of cricket are called 'Laws of Cricket', not 'rules'. This terminology is important because these laws are maintained by the MCC. The other options use incorrect terminology - they mix 'rules' and 'regulations' which is not the official term.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) holds the copyright of cricket's laws. The MCC is the custodian of the Laws of Cricket and the Spirit of Cricket. The other clubs listed are not involved in cricket governance.

Australia holds the highest ODI winning percentage among test-playing nations at approximately 64.37%.

The record for most consecutive ODI defeats by a test-playing nation is 23 losses.

Five instances of 400+ scores have been achieved in ODI cricket history.