A. Answer these questions.
1. Why was Sheroo’s team better than Ranji’s team?
Ans- Sheroo’s team was better than Ranji’s team because the boys lived near each other and practised a lot together.
2. Who was Nakoo? Why could people not see much of him?
Ans- Nakoo was a crocodile. The people did not see him much because he swam low in the water and sometimes he came out on the riverbank to bask in the sun.
3. How did the boys manage to get Nakoo off the pitch?
Ans- The boys threw pebbles at Nakoo but it had no effect. Then Prem took a ball and threw it at Nakoo; it caught him on the snout. Startled and stung, he wriggled off the pitch and moved rapidly down the riverbank and into the water.
4. How did Sheroo get out? What happened to the village team’s batting side after that?
Ans- Nathu’s father, who was keeping wicket, got Sheroo run out. The rest of the batsmen soon followed and the innings ended with a total of 145 runs.
5. Why did no one notice Nakoo sliding beneath the bank manager’s cot?
Ans- Everyone was so focussed on watching the match that no one noticed that Nakoo had crept beneath the bank manager’s cot.
B. Read these lines from the text and answer the questions.
1. Nakoo got his teeth into the ball and chewed Revenge was sweet.
a. What was Nakoo avenging?
Ans- Nakoo was avenging for the pain that Prem gave him by throwing a ball at him.
b. How did the ball land in his mouth?
Ans- Nakoo was sulking in the shallows and saw the ball coming towards him. He opened his jaws wide and that’s how the ball landed in his mouth.
c. What did he decide to do after tasting the ball?
Ans- Nakoo decided that he would snap up any other balls that come his way.
2. The flies did not seem to bother him anymore.
a. Who is ‘him’ in these lines?
Ans- The bank manager is ‘him’ in these lines.
b. When had the flies been bothering him?
Ans- The flies had been bothering the bank manager, when he raised his bat and the ball took his middle stump.
c. Why were they not bothering him anymore?
Ans- Because he was sleeping.
