Ramesh Powar has the tenacity to fight against odds. Orphaned at a young age, the 25-year-old Mumbai all-rounder now makes a living by playing cricket as a professional. When is he not playing in India, he is in England turning out for Morecambe Club in Lancashire. His recent gutsy efforts for Mumbai formed a vital cog in the team’s wheel of recent successes. Interestingly, his batting skills — 415 runs, avg 46.44 with a century and four fifties — often pulled his team out from jail last season. But on Friday, it was his bowling skills against a star-studded line-up that stood out. No wonder, then, that he likes to call himself an ‘‘all-rounder.” But Powar has had his days as a bowler in the past too. He has claimed 83 wickets in 29 matches with four five-wicket hauls at a decent average of 28.37 since making his first class debut four years ago. It was his brother Kiran who first made the foray into the big league. A left-handed batsman, Kiran was considered as a promising prospect. He even led the India under-19 team to Australia nine years ago. Only Sridharan Sriram from that squad has justified the promise. But once he lost the faith of the Mumbai selectors after his first-class debut in 1996, Kiran has been a virtual tourist, turning out for Goa and now Assam. Ramesh knows the fickle nature of the game too. So when he was asked whether he was eyeing a spot in the National team, he sidestepped it saying, ‘‘I am not thinking about all that now. I just want to perform well.’’ For the moment, Mumbai’s lifeguard is on another rescue mission.
