SSC
'Straight from the Heart' is the autobiography of which cricketer?
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Answer: Option D — Kapil Dev
Detailed Solution
"Straight from the Heart" is an autobiography of Kapil Dev, the former Indian all-rounder and captain of India's 1983 World Cup-winning team. It was published in 2004.
About the book:
- In it, Kapil Dev writes about his childhood in Chandigarh, his early cricket in Haryana, his rise as India's leading fast bowler, and the 1983 World Cup win at Lord's.
- He also reflects on his experience as captain and as coach of the Indian team (1999-2000), including the match-fixing allegations that came up during that period, which he strongly denied.
Kapil Dev's other books:
- "By God's Decree" (1985), an earlier autobiography.
- "Cricket My Style" (1987), about cricket techniques.
- "We, Sikhs" (2019), a book on Sikh history and culture.
About Kapil Dev:
- He is nicknamed the "Haryana Hurricane".
- He scored 175 not out against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup.
- He took 434 Test wickets, a world record when he retired in 1994.
- He is the only player to have taken over 400 wickets and scored over 5,000 runs in Tests.
- Wisden named him the "Indian Cricketer of the Century" in 2002.
- The 2021 film "83", starring Ranveer Singh as Kapil Dev, is about the 1983 World Cup win.
Other cricketers' autobiographies:
- Sunil Gavaskar: "Sunny Days" (1976), "Idols", "Runs 'n Ruins".
- Sachin Tendulkar: "Playing It My Way".
- Ravi Shastri: "Stargazing" (2021) about his cricket journey.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Sunil Gavaskar's autobiography is "Sunny Days".
- ✗Mohinder Amarnath was the hero of the 1983 final, but "Straight from the Heart" is not his book.
- ✗Ravi Shastri wrote "Stargazing: The Players in My Life".
Quick tip
Remember: Kapil Dev's books = "Straight from the Heart" (2004), "By God's Decree" (1985), "Cricket My Style"; "Sunny Days" = Gavaskar; "Stargazing" = Ravi Shastri.
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.