Supreme Court puts an end to Sharad Pawar's time as cricket administrator

The Supreme Court’s verdict of barring any individual over 70 years of age from a holding a post in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has ended Sharad Pawar’s time as a cricket administrator.

The apex court has accepted the Lodha panel’s recommendation for barring any individual above the age of 70 from holding a post in Board of Control for Cricket in India. Pawar is into cricket administration since the last 16 years but the 75-year-old will have to quit the post of president of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) within six months.

Pawar made his entry into cricket administration in 2001 when he successfully became the Mumbai Cricket Association president (MCA), beating former India skipper Ajit Wadekar in the elections. This was his first step towards becoming one of the influential figures of Cricket administration in India.

In 2004, he challenged heavyweight Jagmohan Dalmiya for the BCCI president’s post but lost in close election in 2004. But, his dreams of becoming the BCCI president was not delayed for long as he bounced back to beat the wily Kolkata businessman next year and become the BCCI president, ending Dalmiya’s firm hold over Indian cricket.

In 2010, Pawar grew his hold and became the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC). He was the only second Indian to take over as top boss of ICC. The NCP stalwart, who was also India’s agricultural minister, came back to cricket administration as the MCA president in 2013

“We respect the Supreme Court’s recommendations, but it is very unfortunate that we’re losing an excellent administrator like Sharad Pawar due to the Lodha Committee recommendations, because in the last 15 years there has been a phenomenal amount of development in Mumbai cricket because of him. We expected him to be with us for a few more years, so that Mumbai cricket would’ve been taken to even greater heights. Sadly, he has to go,” PV Shetty, the MCA joint secretary, told Times of India.