UPSC Prelims 1999 · General Studies

Question 67: International Relations and Current Affairs

Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched?

aJim Laker: Highest number of wickets in a Cricket Test match

bBrian Lara: Highest score in an innings in Test Cricket

cSanath Jayasurya & Roshan Mahanama: Highest partnership in an innings in Test Cricket

dSunil M. Gavaskar: Highest aggregate of runs in Test Cricket

AnswerThe answer is (d).

Gavaskar held the Test run record when he retired in 1987, but Allan Border passed him and held it in 1999, so Gavaskar and highest aggregate is the wrongly matched pair. The other pairs were right then: Jim Laker took 19 wickets in the Old Trafford Test of 1956, Brian Lara held the highest Test innings (375 in 1994), and Jayasuriya and Mahanama put on 576, the biggest Test partnership, in 1997. Remember: Gavaskar was first to 10,000 Test runs; Border later passed him.

Why each option is right or wrong

(a) A correct pair then: Laker took 19 wickets in a Test in 1956. It does not fit a 'not correctly matched' stem.
(b) A correct pair then: Lara scored 375 in 1994, the record at the time.
(c) A correct pair then: they added 576 for the second wicket against India in 1997.
(d) The mismatched pair: Border had overtaken Gavaskar's aggregate.

Worth knowing: As worded the question asks for the correctly matched pair, but (a), (b) and (c) were correct in 1999 and only (d) was not, so it was probably meant as 'not correctly matched'; several of these records have since been broken.

Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 1999, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.