SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 23 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 2 of 100

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 10 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Who among the following is known as ‘Captain Cool’ in Indian Cricket?

(a)Mahendra Singh Dhoni
(b)Kapil Dev
(c)Virat Kohli
(d)Sachin Tendulkar

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the India captain called 'Captain Cool'. The name comes from his temperament — he looked unhurried in exactly the finishes where captains usually do not.

Under him India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

He was also the wicketkeeper, so he was setting fields and calling reviews from behind the stumps. That is the composure the nickname points at, and it is option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Kapil Dev — Kapil Dev led India to the 1983 World Cup, but his tag is the Haryana Hurricane — a fast bowler and hitter's nickname, built on aggression rather than calm.
(c)
Virat Kohli — Virat Kohli's on-field image is the opposite of cool: he is known for visible aggression, and his familiar nickname is Chiku.
(d)
Sachin Tendulkar — Sachin Tendulkar captained India only in short spells and is remembered as a batter — the Master Blaster or Little Master, never Captain Cool.

Concept

Nickname questions are pure recall, and the fastest way to hold them is to sort them by what the nickname is made of.

Dhoni's is behavioural — it describes how he handled pressure. Others come from a place (Haryana Hurricane), from a playing style (Master Blaster) or from the dressing room (Chiku).

Grouped that way, four names take one line each instead of a list you re-read every month.

The question asks only for the nickname. Do not spend the extra seconds recalling captaincy records — every option here is a famous player, so the record does not separate them.

Key facts

MS Dhoni captained India to the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 title.
He captained India to the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup title, won at home.
He captained India to the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy title.
Kapil Dev, not Dhoni, led India to the 1983 World Cup.

Study next

Indian captains and the ICC trophies won under eachNicknames of Indian cricketers and where each comes fromHosts and winners of recent ICC World Cups

Common traps

Picking Kapil Dev because 1983 comes to mind — the question asks for a nickname, not a trophy.
Answering from a player's captaincy record when the item is testing an epithet.

Cricket recall is set in several shapes here: which format a term belongs to (Follow On, 17 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.14) and which listed term is not cricket at all (11 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.19, where the odd one out is Deuce).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.