SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 21 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 14 of 99

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which of the following best encapsulates the core philosophy presented in Shane Watson’s book 'The Winner's Mindset'?

(a)Technical manual on cricket techniques
(b)Sociological study of sports and gender
(c)Psychological resilience and strategic adaptability in elite sports
(d)Biography of Shane Watson’s cricket career

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The title names the subject. The Winner's Mindset is about the mental side of performance, not the mechanics of cricket.

Its description on Goodreads has Watson using his own in-game experiences and 'an easy-to-understand mental skills framework', with techniques for 'any performance arena'.
A book about the mind under pressure fits psychological resilience → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Technical manual on cricket techniques — A technical manual would teach batting and bowling mechanics. Watson's book offers a framework for the mind, not coaching drills.
(b)
Sociological study of sports and gender — Nothing in the book's description concerns gender or sociology. It is a mindset guide by a former cricketer, not an academic study of sport and society.
(d)
Biography of Shane Watson’s cricket career — The book draws on Watson's own in-game experiences, but as material for a mental skills framework. A biography would chronicle the career for its own sake.

Concept

Book-to-theme questions test what a book is about, and here the title gives it away. Mindset points to psychology, so options on technique, sociology or a career record can be set aside.

Shane Watson is a former Australian all-rounder who played his last international match on 27 March 2016, at the World Twenty20. He won the IPL with Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and Chennai Super Kings in 2018.

The book draws on Watson's own career, which is why option (d) tempts. The stem's deciding words are core philosophy: Watson's career is the material, and the mental skills method is the point.

Key facts

The Winner's Mindset is a non-fiction book by former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, organised around a mental skills framework.
Watson played his last international match on 27 March 2016, at the World Twenty20.
He won the IPL with Rajasthan Royals in 2008, when he was Player of the Tournament, and with Chennai Super Kings in 2018.

Study next

Book-theme items built on a title's key word, such as Why Bharat Matters and Because Words MatterRecent books by sportspersons and what each is aboutShane Watson's IPL record with Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings

Common traps

Choosing the biography because the author writes about his own career — the stem asks for the core philosophy, not the source material.
Choosing the cricket-technique option because Watson is a cricketer — the title's word is mindset, not method.

Book-theme items with four descriptions to choose from also appear at 15 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.9 (Why Bharat Matters), 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.7 (Because Words Matter) and 15 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.8 (Arranged Marriage).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Culture — all 246 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.