Ramesh Rajaram Powar (born 20 May 1978) is an Indian former

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played two

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and 31

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s for India between 2004 and 2007. After retiring from playing he has served as the head coach of the

India women's national cricket team The India women's national cricket team, also known as Women in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test ...

Cricket career

Playing

Powar was selected in 2000 for the first intake of the

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. Powar was a consistent performer in domestic cricket for many seasons and was crucial to

Mumbai cricket team The Mumbai cricket team is a cricket team which represents Mumbai in Indian domestic cricket. It is governed by Mumbai Cricket Association. Its home ground is Wankhede Stadium in Churchgate. The team also plays its home matches at Bandra ...

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

success in the 2002–03 season. Powar played first-class cricket for 16 years Powar played for Sefton Park in the

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, signed as a late replacement for the injured Vinayak Mane in July 2005. He scored 325 league runs at 32.5 in ten games and took 25 wickets at 21 apiece. He was first selected in the Indian squad for their tour of Pakistan. He did not return to the ODI side again until early 2006. His recall came on the back of 63 domestic wickets for 2005–06. It was the second season in a row that he had taken over 50 wickets. However, in January 2007, he was dropped from the squad because of injury and

Anil Kumble Anil Kumble (; born 17 October 1970) is a former Indian cricketer, captain, coach and commentator who played Test cricket, Test and One Day International cricket for his national team over an international career of 18 years. A right-arm leg sp ...

returned as the second spinner in the lead up to the

2007 Cricket World Cup The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth Cricket World Cup, a One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. There were a total of 51 matches played, three fewer than at the 2 ...

. In May 2008, he made his IPL debut for the Kings XI Punjab and picked up a wicket in the very first over he bowled. He represented Kings XI Punjab in the first three seasons of the IPL. He represented the defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala franchise in the IPL in 2011. He returned to Kings XI Punjab in 2012, but featured in just one match. In 2013, after representing

for 14 first-class seasons he shifted to

Rajasthan cricket team The Rajasthan cricket team is a cricket team which represents the Indian state of Rajasthan. The team won the Ranji Trophy in the 2010–11 and 2011-12 seasons, having finished runners-up eight times between 1960–61 and 1973-74. It is curr ...

where he had a poor season. He took 10 wickets at 62.20 from six matches. But in 2014, Powar became the first player of

to move out as Rajasthan Cricket Association was suspended by

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

. He joined

Gujarat cricket team The Gujarat cricket team is one of three first-class cricket teams based on the state of Gujarat (the other two being the Baroda cricket team and Saurashtra cricket team). Led by Parthiv Patel, Gujarat won their maiden Ranji Trophy title in th ...

for next season. In November 2015, Powar announced that he would retire from all forms of cricket following the conclusion of the 2015–16 Ranji Trophy.

Coaching

In July 2018, he was appointed as the head coach of India women's cricket team on an interim basis to oversee the training camp held in Bengaluru from 25 July to 3 August. A month later his term in charge was extended to the end of November this included a tour to Sri Lanka, a bilateral series in the West Indies in October followed by the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20. During the 2018 World Twenty20, Powar got into a dispute with batter Mithali Raj, and as a consequence of that she was not allowed to play in the semi-final. Many fans of the Indian team cited this incident as the reason for the team's poor showing at the World Cup. The BCCI chose not to extend his contract after the tournament although leading players Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana requested he stay on. In February 2021, he was appointed as Mumbai team's head coach for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Powar was selected as the head coach of the Indian women's cricket team in May 2021 succeeding

Woorkeri Raman Woorkeri Venkat Raman (; born 23 May 1965) is a former Indian cricketer and former coach of the India women's national cricket team, having been appointed to the role in December 2018. Raman was replaced by Ramesh Powar in May 2021 as the nati ...

. He left the position in December 2022 as the BCCI switched him to working at the

as a spin bowling coach.

Personal life

He is an alumnus of Ruparel College of Science, Commerce and Arts in Matunga,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. His brother Kiran Powar also played cricket for Mumbai and coached the under-19s of Vidarbha cricket team.

References

External links

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Ramesh Powar
featured in the 5 best players of India's domestic season 2005–2006. 1978 births Living people Indian cricketers India One Day International cricketers India Test cricketers Mumbai cricketers Punjab Kings cricketers 21st-century Indian sportsmen Kochi Tuskers Kerala cricketers West Zone cricketers India Red cricketers India Blue cricketers Indian cricket coaches Coaches of the India women's national cricket team Cricketers from Mumbai D. G. Ruparel College alumni {{India-cricket-bio-stub