Improve the bracketed part of the sentence, if necessary: 'When I first saw Ankit, he (was playing) cricket.'

Introduction / Context:
This sentence improvement question focuses on the correct use of past tenses to describe simultaneous or ongoing actions in the past. The sentence is: When I first saw Ankit, he (was playing) cricket. The bracketed portion must be evaluated to see whether it accurately describes what Ankit was doing at the time you saw him. Such questions are common in exams because they test understanding of past continuous, past perfect, and simple past tenses.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Main sentence: When I first saw Ankit, he was playing cricket.
• The clause I first saw Ankit uses simple past tense.
• The bracketed verb phrase was playing is in the past continuous tense.
• The context suggests that you noticed Ankit in the middle of an activity.

Concept / Approach:
When we describe an action that was already in progress at a specific moment in the past, English typically uses the past continuous tense for the ongoing action and the simple past for the shorter, interrupting action. In this sentence, the shorter event is the first moment of seeing Ankit, and the longer action is Ankit playing cricket. Therefore, the correct combination is simple past (saw) and past continuous (was playing). This indicates that when you saw him, he was already engaged in the activity.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the two actions: seeing Ankit and his playing cricket.Step 2: Recognise that seeing him is a brief event, while playing cricket is a longer, ongoing action.Step 3: Apply the rule: use simple past for the shorter action and past continuous for the background or ongoing action.Step 4: Evaluate the original bracketed part was playing. It is correctly in the past continuous tense.Step 5: Examine Option A: had played. Past perfect suggests that the playing was fully completed before you saw him, which changes the meaning and does not convey an ongoing action.Step 6: Examine Option B: had been playing. Past perfect continuous would emphasise the duration before you saw him, but combined with when I first saw, it sounds unnatural for this simple context and is not necessary.Step 7: Examine Option C: played. Using simple past here would make both actions appear as separate completed events without highlighting that one was already in progress.Step 8: Conclude that the original past continuous was playing is the best choice, so No improvement is correct.

Verification / Alternative check:
Consider similar examples: When I reached the station, it was raining and When she called, I was watching television. In each case, the background action (raining, watching television) is in the past continuous, while the interrupting action (reached, called) is in the simple past. Rewriting the original sentence as When I first saw Ankit, he was playing cricket fits this pattern perfectly. Using had played or played would give a different sense and sound less natural for a simple observation made at one point in the past.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• Option A: had played implies that Ankit had finished playing before you saw him, so you would not actually see him playing at that moment.
• Option B: had been playing is grammatically possible but unnecessarily complex and not the most natural way to state a simple past observation here.
• Option C: played makes both actions simple past and does not clearly show that playing cricket was the ongoing background action when you saw him.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes overuse past perfect forms, thinking they sound more advanced, even when simple past and past continuous are more appropriate. Another common error is to ignore the relationship between the two actions and choose a tense at random. Remember that when describing what someone was doing at a specific time in the past, past continuous is usually the best choice, especially when combined with a simple past clause that sets the time frame.

Final Answer:
The original sentence is already correct, so the best option is No improvement, keeping he was playing cricket.