SSC
Who was the first Test captain of independent India?
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Answer: Option A — Lala Amarnath
Detailed Solution
Lala Amarnath (Nanik Amarnath Bhardwaj) was the first captain of the Indian Test team after independence. He led India on its first tour of Australia in 1947-48, the first Test series played by independent India.
India's tour of Australia (1947-48):
- India played five Tests against Don Bradman's Australian team and lost the series 4-0.
- Vijay Hazare scored centuries in both innings of the Adelaide Test, the first Indian to do so.
- Amarnath scored many runs in the first-class tour matches, including a double century against Victoria.
Other milestones under Lala Amarnath:
- India's first home Test series after independence was against the West Indies in 1948-49.
- In 1952-53, India played its first Test series against Pakistan, and India won the series 2-1, its first-ever Test series victory.
More about Lala Amarnath:
- He was born on 11 September 1911 in Kapurthala, Punjab.
- He scored India's first Test century, 118 against England at the Bombay Gymkhana in December 1933, on his debut.
- He was an all-rounder, bowling medium pace.
- He is the only bowler to have dismissed Don Bradman hit wicket (1947-48).
- He received the Padma Bhushan in 1991.
His sons Surinder Amarnath and Mohinder Amarnath also played Test cricket for India. Mohinder was Man of the Match in the 1983 World Cup final.
India's early Test captains:
- K. Nayudu: first Test captain of India (1932, at Lord's).
- Lala Amarnath: first captain of independent India (1947-48).
- Vijay Hazare: captain in India's first Test win (1952, Madras).
Why not the other options?
- ✗K. Nayudu was India's first Test captain, in 1932, before independence.
- ✗Vijay Hazare captained India in its first Test win in 1952.
- ✗Vijay Merchant was a great opening batsman but was unavailable for the 1947-48 tour.
Quick tip
Remember: First Test captain of India = C. K. Nayudu (1932); first captain of independent India = Lala Amarnath (Australia tour 1947-48); first Test series win = vs Pakistan 1952-53 under Amarnath.
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Sports — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Sports, 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 sports GK: major tournaments and their venues, trophies and cups associated with each sport, sports terms, the number of players in a team, sports awards in India, Olympic and Asian Games facts, and famous sportspersons and their achievements. Common questions ask which sport a trophy belongs to (such as the Durand Cup for football or the Ranji Trophy for cricket), which term is used in which sport, and where a tournament was held. Records and results change after every season, so pair static facts such as team sizes and terms with recent results from current affairs. Practise the sports 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.