Ramesh Powar Joins Australia U-19 Camp as Spin Consultant
RAJKOT: On a quiet Sunday at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, an unmistakably familiar figure to Indian cricket walked into the Australian Under-19 nets. Ramesh Powar, former India and Mumbai off-spinner, has slipped into a short-term role with Australia's junior side, sharpening the skills of their young spinners in the middle of a fiercely contested Youth ODI series against India.
He isn’t there by chance. He’s there by design.
“Cricket Australia had approached me quite a few months back to come and spend some time with their young spinners and guide them,” Powar said from Rajkot, explaining how the arrangement came together.
The relationship is not new. In June 2018, he had travelled to Brisbane on CA’s invitation to work with Australia’s Under-23 spinners at the Centre of Excellence. They know his methods. He knows their expectations.
This time, the assignment is short and sharp. Powar joined the Australian camp on Saturday and will stay with the squad till Wednesday, when the final Youth ODI of the three-match Under-19 series against India is played. India edged the opening game on Friday by seven runs; the remaining matches are scheduled for Monday and Wednesday, giving the Australian youngsters a tight window to absorb as much as they can from a man who has lived spin bowling from every angle — player, mentor, head coach.
At the nets in Rajkot, Powar has been working hands-on with Australia’s young tweakers, cutting in with technical tweaks, field-setting ideas, and the subtler art of reading conditions on the subcontinent. For a group still learning how to operate in Indian conditions, that kind of insight is gold.
“Since this was a prior commitment, I decided to spend four days with them,” he said.
The timing is intriguing. Back home, Powar has thrown his hat into a very different ring.
He has applied for the junior selector’s post with the BCCI. The process is in motion but not complete. After the Board’s AGM on Friday, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed that candidates are being shortlisted, with the Cricket Advisory Committee set to conduct interviews and wrap up the appointments over the next 15 days.
So while Powar stands at the top of his mark in Rajkot, talking lengths, angles and flight with Australian teenagers, his immediate future in Indian cricket administration is being quietly weighed in meeting rooms elsewhere.
His résumé is substantial. A former head coach of the India women’s team, Powar has built a solid domestic coaching portfolio. He was head coach of Gujarat for the last three seasons, overseeing their progress in the grind of the Indian domestic calendar. Before that, he guided Mumbai to the Vijay Hazare Trophy title in March 2021, restoring a sense of steel to a side that expects trophies, not excuses.
Those experiences make his presence in the Australian camp all the more striking. An Indian off-spinner, once a fixture in domestic cricket, now polishing the next generation of Australian spin in India, even as he chases a role in shaping India’s own youth pathway from the selection table.
For the Australian Under-19 spinners, these four days in Rajkot might feel fleeting. The impact may not be. For Powar, the week offers a neat snapshot of where his career stands: one eye on the nets, the other on a potential seat at the BCCI’s selection table.
