Rajesh Pawar

At the age of 16, when Rajesh Pawar burst onto the first-class scene for the first time, he was tipped to be the next prodigious left-arm spinner for India. He went on to captain the Mumbai Under-19 team as well.

He was also a part of the Indian squad at the 1998 Under-19 World Cup, which included the likes of Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Mohammad Kaif. Pawar was brilliant for Mumbai in the 1999-00 Ranji season, taking 44 wickets. He also came in contention for the national team selection during that period.

However, he struggled to cement his place in the side with the presence of Nilesh Kulkarni, Ramesh Powar and Sairaj Bahutule. He could only average 10 wickets per season for the next three seasons. Seeing his diminishing chances of making to the team and with some help from team-mate Zaheer Khan, he moved to Baroda. Despite a poor start to his stint with Baroda, he came into his own and performed well over the next three seasons.

In 2007, he was named in the 30-man probables for the World Cup. Even though he never made it to the final 15, Pawar was picked in the squad for a Test series against Bangladesh. But, he never got the chance to represent India. He then moved to Andhra and played his last first class match for them in 2012-13.

He last played for Indian Oil Corporation XI in the BCCI Corporate Trophy in February 2014.

By Sidhant Maheshwari