1. Given data

• Mass of ball: $m = 120\,\text{g} = 0.12\,\text{kg}$
• Initial speed: $u = 25\,\text{m/s}$
• Final speed after being caught: $v = 0$
• Time of catching: $t = 0.1\,\text{s}$

2. Find change in momentum

The ball is brought to rest, so

$\Delta p = m(v-u) = 0.12(0-25) = -3\,\text{kg m/s}$

Magnitude of change in momentum is

$|\Delta p| = 3\,\text{kg m/s}$

3. Use impulse-momentum theorem

Average force is

$F = \frac{|\Delta p|}{t} = \frac{3}{0.1} = 30\,\text{N}$

4. Force exerted by ball on the hand

By Newton’s third law, the magnitude of force exerted by the ball on the player’s hand is equal to the magnitude of force exerted by the hand on the ball.

So,

$F = 30\,\text{N}$

5. Check options

• A: $30$ ✅
• B: $24$ ❌
• C: $12$ ❌
• D: $25$ ❌

Hence, the correct option is A.