Correct Answer :   Vignesh NR

India’s 24-year-old chess player Vignesh NR has become India’s 80th Grandmaster after he defeated Germany’s IM Ilja Schneider and won the 24th NordWest Cup 2023 at Bad Zwischenahn in Germany.

* The Chennai boy reached the milestone after crossing 2500 in the live ratings. Vignesh’s elder brother Visakh NR had become India’s 59th GM in 2019. Thus, Visakh and Vignesh become India’s first brothers who are Grandmasters.

* Congratulating his brother on his outstanding feat, Visakh was quoted as saying by Chessbase India, “It’s really nice to see my brother finally made GM title requirements. Maybe it’s just the first step towards a higher level. We will be looking forward to improving more and playing good games and to impact positivity to the world.”

* The Southern Railway employee immediately had to leave for his next tournament 8th Noisiel Open 2023 in France.

* Vignesh earned his first GM-norm at Qatar Masters in 2015 at the age of 17 years. A little over one and a half years later, he scored his second GM-norm at 24th Abu Dhabi Masters in 2017. He secured his final GM-norm at 1st Gujarat GM Open 2018. A fourth GM-norm was scored at Asian Continental 2019 at Xingtai, China..

Source : Indian Express

Correct Answer :   Dubai

India’s Sania Mirza didn’t have a memorable ending to her career after she lost her doubles match to the Russian pair of Veronika Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova.

* Mirza lost her final career game on Tuesday (22nd Feb 2023) at the Dubai Tennis Championship.

* After performing her heart out in the Australian Open where she finished as the runner-up in the mixed doubles along with her childhood doubles partner Rohan Bopanna, all eyes were on Sania Mirza about how she would bring her career to an end.

Correct Answer :   Two

India clinched two gold medals on the second day of the ongoing ISSF Shooting World Cup at Cairo in Egypt on Monday (20th Feb 2023).

* Indian 10m Air Rifle Mixed team of Narmada Nithin Raju and Rudrankksh Balasaheb Patil and 10m Air Pistol Mixed team of Rhythm Sangwan and Varun Tomar have bagged the yellow metals.

* Indian rifle team trounced Hungary’s Eszter Denes and Istvan Peni 16-6 in the gold medal play-off to bag the top spot on the podium.

* In the bronze medal contest, the German combination of Lisa Mueller and Maximilian Dallinger got better of Switzerland’s Nina Christen and Christoph Duerr 16-12.

* In the 10m Air Pistol Mixed team event, the pair of Varun Tomar and Rhythm Sangwan routed Serbian pair Zorana Arunovic and Damir Mikec 16-10 to win the gold medal.

* Germany took third place after beating France 16-6 in the bronze medal play-off. Another Indian team of Divya Subbaraju and Sarabjot Singh missed out on a medal round after finishing fifth.

* The 19-year-old Varun also won bronze in the 10m Air Pistol Men event after beating compatriot Sarabjot on Sunday (19th Feb 2023).

* India has so far won three medals in the competition with 2 golds and 1 bronze..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Virat Kohli

Star Indian batter Virat Kohli made history on Sunday (February 19, 2023) as he became the sixth batter in history to score 25,000 or more runs in international cricket.

* Virat was 52 runs short of achieving the milestone before the start of the second Test between India and Australia, which is being played at his home ground in Delhi.

* He had scored 44 runs in the first innings on Saturday (February 18, 2023), and by making eight more runs in the second, he joined the elite list of batters who have managed to score 25,000 plus runs in international matches.

* The ongoing Delhi Test is Virat’s 491st international match, and in 549 innings, he has completed 25,000 international runs.

* He broke the legendary Sachin Tendulkar's record to become the fastest batter in international cricket history to score 25K runs.

* Sachin took 577 innings to complete 25,000 runs. Virat is the second Indian after Sachin who has joined this elite club.

Top 5 Cricketers in 25000 runs :

* Sachin holds the record for scoring the highest number of runs in international cricket. In 664 matches, he has scored a total of 34357 runs.

* Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (28016 runs in 594 matches).

* Australia’s Ricky Ponting (27483 runs in 560 matches).

* Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene (25957 runs in 652 games).

* South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (25534 runs in 519 matches).

Source : Times Now News

Correct Answer :   Ben Stokes

England Test captain Ben Stokes became the player to hit the most number of sixes in the history of Test cricket, surpassing England coach and former New Zealand cricketer Brendon McCullum in the match against New Zealand.

* Stokes holds the world record for hitting two sixes in the second innings of the first Test between England and New Zealand at Mount Maunganui (New Zealand).

* Stokes played an innings of 31 runs in 33 balls, which included three fours and two sixes.

* In 90 Test matches, Stokes scored a total of 5,652 runsat an average of 36.00 with 109 sixes and 12 centuries and 28 fifties. His individual best score in Tests is 258.

* McCullum has 107 sixes in 101 Tests. He scored 6,453 runs at an average of 38.64. He has 12 centuries and 31 fifties in Tests with a best score of 302. Batsman who hit most sixes in test cricket.

* Australia’s Adam Gilchrist is third after Stokes (109) and McCullum (107) to hit 100 sixes in Test cricket. Chris Gayle of West Indies is fourth in the list with 98 sixes and Jacques Kallis of South Africa is fifth with 97 sixes.

* India’s Virender Sehwag is in sixth place, he has hit 91 sixes. Sehwag is the Indian to hit the most sixes in Tests..

Correct Answer :   Saurashtra

Saurashtra defeated Bengal by 9 wickets at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, to lift the Ranji Trophy title on Sunday (19th Feb 2023) for the second time in their history.

Bengal, who were overnight 169 runs for 4 in their second innings, were all out for 241, handing the visitors a mere 12 runs target to win the final.

Saurashtra lost their opening batsman Jay Gohil without scoring off the bowling of Akash Deep but eventually went past the target, reaching 14 for 1 in 2.4 overs. The winners wrapped up the match with one day and two full sessions to spare.

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of the bowlers in the second innings claiming a 6-wicket haul.

Scores :

Bengal : 174 for 10 and 241 all out.

Saurashtra :  404 all out and 14 for one.

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Bronze Medal

Team India won the bronze medal at the Asia Mixed Team Championships 2023, held at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 14 to 19 February 2023.

* P.V. Sindhu-led side faced a 2-3 defeat against China in the semifinals and settled for the bronze medal.

* Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand won the Women’s Doubles.

* While team China won the Gold medal, South Korea won the Silver medal..

Source : AIR

Correct Answer :   Cheteshwar Pujara

Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara became the 13th player to play the 100th Test match for India. In the second match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, he achieved this level. Pujara, who will follow David Warner in this eminent club.

Then in October 2010, he made his debut against Australia debut in Bangalore Test. Moreover, he made his ODI debut on August 1, 2013, against Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club. If Pujara scores a century in this Test match then he will become the first Indian batsman to score a century in his 100th Test.

Source : The Sports Rush

Correct Answer :   Chetan Sharma

Chetan Sharma resigned today (February 17, 2023), from the post of Chief Selector of the Indian Cricket Team. Recently he was heavily censured due to the remarks that he gave during a TV Sting Operation.

He was under pressure to resign after this controversial undercover session. No other person has been appointed as the new Chief Selector of BCCI so far.

Indian cricketer Chetan Sharma was re-appointed as the chief selector in January. In December 2020, he was first elected as the chairman of the selection committee. Also, he played a total of 88 matches for India between 1984 and 1994, including 23 Test matches and 65 ODIs..

Source : Indian Express

Correct Answer :   Deepti Sharma

* Indian women's team all-rounder Deepti Sharma, on Thursday (15th February 2023), became India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is.

* The off-break bowler accomplished the feat in India’s T20 World Cup 2023 Group B match against Hayley Matthews’ West Indies at the Newlands in Cape Town.

* Deepti went past leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, who has 98 wickets from 72 matches, to set a new record for India.

* She also became the first Indian bowler to pick up 100 wickets in T20Is and the ninth overall in women’s cricket after Anisa Mohammed, Nida Dar, Ellyse Perry, Shabnim Ismail, Megan Schutt, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Devine and Anya Shrubsole to the milestone.

* Among the Indian men’s team, Yuzvendra Chahal is on top of the tree with 91 wickets from 75 matches.  Bhuvneshwar Kumar is second in the list with 90 wickets from 87 matches...

Source : India Today