Sharad Pawar is one of India's powerful regional politicians perennially on the cusp of becoming prime minister. The closest he got to - and perhaps ever will - was following Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, when Narasimha Rao got the job. When he first became a state minister, way back in 1966 his only connection to cricket was a tenuous one - his father-in-law Sada Shinde, had been a Test leg-spinner who toured England in 1946. But over the years his involvement with the game and its administration deepened. In 2001 he defeated Ajit Wadekar, the former India Test captain, in a fractious election to take over the reins of the Mumbai Cricket Association. Right away he was to demonstrate what he was capable of. He buried the hatchet with his just defeated-rival, solved outstanding problems on a war-footing and, what is more, drew up ambitious plans for the expansion of Mumbai cricket far beyond the confines of the metro, all of which are in various stages of expeditious execution.

With his stunning victory over Jagmohan Dalmiya's nominee Ranbir Singh Mahendra at the 76 th AGM of the board, Pawar is now at the apogee of the country's cricket administration. As the federal agriculture minister in a nation still prone to droughts and mass suicides by farmers, there are of course doubts over the time he might be able to devote to the BCCI. But having obviously coveted the president's job he can be expected to seed some fresh ideas to usher in more productive and, hopefully less controversial, times for Indian cricket.
Anil Nair (November 2005)

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Jun 22, 2008 Sharad Pawar, India's Sports Minister Manohar Singh Gill and Kapil Dev pose with the trophy © AFP

Sep 13, 2007 Sharad Pawar at the launch of th Champions Twenty20 League © AFP

Jun 18, 2007 Sharad Pawar talks to Ratnakar Shetty, chief administrative officer of the BCCI, during a meeting at Bhurban © AFP

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