Sharad Pawar      

Full name Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar

Born December 12, 1940, Baramati, Pune district, Maharashtra

Current age 68 years 349 days

Relation Father-in-law - SG Shinde

Sharad Pawar is one of India's powerful regional politicians, perennially on the cusp of becoming prime minister. The closest he got - 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, Pawar's only connection to cricket was a tenuous one - his father-in-law, Sadu Shinde, was a Test legspinner, who toured England in 1946. But over the years Pawar's 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 drew up ambitious plans for the expansion of Mumbai cricket far beyond the confines of the city.

With his stunning victory over Jagmohan Dalmiya's nominee Ranbir Singh Mahendra at the 76th AGM of the board, Pawar is now at the head 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)

Nov 9, 2009

Ratnakar Shetty, Sharad Pawar and Haroon Lorgat with the trophy

© AFP

Feb 17, 2009

Haroon Lorgat and Sharad Pawar deep in discussion

© AFP

Oct 14, 2008

David Morgan and Sharad Pawar at the ICC's board meeting

© International Cricket Council

View the full index of related photos »