Aaron Finch, who recently retired from international cricket, was captain of men's cricket team of which one of the following countries ?
- (a)South Africa
- (b)Australia
- (c)England
- (d)New Zealand
Correct — B, Australia. Aaron Finch was an Australian opening batter who captained his country in both white-ball formats, one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals. His biggest achievement as captain was leading Australia to their maiden men's Twenty20 World Cup title in 2021, beating New Zealand in the final by eight wickets. He announced his retirement from one-day internationals on 10 September 2022 and his retirement from international cricket altogether on 7 February 2023 — about seven months before this paper, which is what the word recently in the stem refers to.
- (a)South Africa — Finch never played for South Africa. He was an Australian batter throughout his international career, and it was Australia he led in the white-ball formats.
- (c)England — England is a plausible guess only because Finch is a common English surname. His international cricket was entirely for Australia.
- (d)New Zealand — New Zealand has a real connection with the story, but on the losing side — they were the team Finch's Australia beat by eight wickets in the 2021 men's Twenty20 World Cup final.
Sports questions in the General Ability Test are almost always one-fact recall drawn from the twelve months before the exam — a retirement, a title, a record or an appointment. They are among the cheapest marks in the paper for a candidate who keeps a running list, and among the most expensive guesses for one who does not, because the four options are usually four equally real countries or players.
Attach the person to an event rather than to a bare country, and the fact stays. Finch is the captain who finally won Australia a men's Twenty20 World Cup, in 2021, a trophy the country had never held despite its record in the fifty-over game — that hook fixes both the nationality and the significance. The retirement dates are worth keeping in the right order too: the one-day retirement came first, in September 2022, and the complete retirement from international cricket followed in February 2023. As of the September 2023 exam Finch had been retired from international cricket for seven months and was playing in domestic and franchise leagues.
- Aaron Finch captained Australia in one-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals.
- He led Australia to their maiden men's Twenty20 World Cup title in 2021, beating New Zealand in the final by eight wickets.
- He announced his retirement from one-day international cricket on 10 September 2022.
- He announced his retirement from international cricket on 7 February 2023.
- Guessing a player's country from the sound of the surname.
- Mixing up the finalists of a tournament with its winner.
- Assuming a captain retires from all formats at once; Finch left the one-day game five months before the rest.
Asked as a one-line sports recall, with three other Test-playing countries as options and no clue in the stem beyond the name.
Which country among the following has been involved in two tied Test cricket matches?
- (a) Australia
- (b) India
- (c) West Indies
- (d) England
Answer(a) Australia
Cricket appears in the civil services paper too, and the answer is the same country. The format differs — a record rather than a retirement — but the preparation is identical, a short list of who did what and for whom.
Who among the following retired from test cricket by bagging a wicket on the last ball of his career?
- (a) AB de Villiers
- (b) Michael Hussey
- (c) Quinton de Kock
- (d) Ross Taylor
Answer(d) Ross Taylor
The previous year's paper asked about a cricketing retirement as well. NDA sets one or two sports items per paper and retirements are its favourite peg, so the year's departures are worth listing before the exam.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Australia won their first men's Twenty20 World Cup title in 2021 by beating which team in the final ?
- (a)England
- (b)Pakistan
- (c)New Zealand
- (d)India
Answer(c) New Zealand — Australia won by eight wickets, with Aaron Finch as captain.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Aaron Finch captained Australia in which formats of international cricket ?
- (a)Tests only
- (b)One-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals
- (c)Tests and Twenty20 internationals only
- (d)All three formats
Answer(b) One-day internationals and Twenty20 internationals — the two white-ball formats.