Choose the correct option to change the following statement to an exclamatory statement:

Major Dhyanchand was a great hockey player

What a great hockey player major Dhayanchand was!

The correct answer is Option (2) - What a great hockey player major Dhayanchand was!

Explanation:

To convert an assertive sentence into an exclamatory sentence, we usually begin with “What” or “How” depending on the structure:

• Use “What a/an” before singular countable nouns.

• Use “How” before adjectives or adverbs (without a noun).

Here, “Major Dhyanchand was a great hockey player” →

• “a great hockey player” is a noun phrase, so we use “What a”.

• The verb “was” must remain in past tense to retain the original meaning.

 Correct exclamatory form:
What a great hockey player Major Dhyanchand was!

Why others are incorrect:

1. What a great hockey player Major Dhyanchand is! →  Changes tense (is → was).

2. What great hockey player Major Dhyanchand had been! →  Awkward and overly formal; incorrect article usage.

3. How great hockey player Major Dhyanchand is! → Missing article “a” and incorrect structure.

 Therefore, Option 2 is grammatically and contextually correct.