Choose the most logical order of sentences from among the given choices to…

Concept

A sentence-rearrangement paragraph has exactly one topic sentence that stands alone with no pronoun, connector, or backward reference; every other sentence must chain forward from it, each one's connective cue (a transition word or reference) resolved by the sentence immediately before it, until the paragraph reaches its natural close.

Application

1. C opens the paragraph: it introduces cricket's long-standing popularity in India with no backward reference, so it is the only sentence that can come first.

2. B follows C: B's word ‘also’ (‘cricket remained popular... also’) needs an already-stated claim of cricket's popularity to attach to — exactly what C supplies.

3. E follows B: E's opening connector ‘due to this reason’ needs an already-stated reason — B's point about cricket's continuing dominance during that period is that reason, explaining why other sports were neglected.

4. A follows E: A's ‘Thus’ draws a consequence — poor Olympic performance — directly from the neglect just described in E.

5. D closes the paragraph: it is the only sentence proposing a remedy (‘it is time our government and corporate fraternity pay due attention’), which can only follow once the problem (poor Olympic performance) has been established in A.

Cross-check

Reading the sequence C–B–E–A–D end to end, every connective cue resolves to the sentence right before it: ‘also’ in B points to C, ‘due to this reason’ in E points to B, ‘Thus’ in A points to E, and D's recommendation follows the problem A has just raised — confirming the chain is internally consistent.

Contrast

• The order EACDB opens with E, whose ‘due to this reason’ needs an already-stated cause — none exists yet, so the sequence fails from its very first line.

• The order BDACE opens with B, whose ‘also’ likewise has no antecedent, and places D — a concluding recommendation — as the very next sentence, before the problem it addresses has even been introduced.

• The order DCEAB opens with D, the concluding call to action, before any problem has been described anywhere in the sequence.

The correct order of sentences is C–B–E–A–D.