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Milind Rege, former cricket captain and current chief selector of Mumbai, told me last week that Sharad Pawar has never intervened in his affairs. “He concentrated on the administration, and let the cricketing aspect be tackled by the experts,’’ said Rege. Pawar, it might be remembered, was president of Mumbai Cricket Association for three years before he won the recent elections to become the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, so Rege should know. But will Pawar remain as sanguine now that he is the supremo? The late Madhavrao Scindia, for instance, was a frequent caller to Australia when the Indian cricket team was touring there in 1991-92. He was then the BCCI president, a charmer and his passion for the game was part of cricketing and political lore. He was a regular in the annual cricket match between Parliamentarians and the media in Delhi, and legend has it that he was even more loathe to be given out than W G Grace!

Scindia had badly wanted to be on that tour. “Australia is the best country to play cricket in, and we have a fine team this time,’’he said in a function in Mumbai before the team’s departure. These were the early years of Azharuddin’s captaincy, and the concept of the Team of the 90s was emerging from euphemism into reality with the inclusion of many young players. Barring Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar and Kiran More, none of the other players were over 30. Most were in their mid-20s; and then there was the extraordinary talent of the young genius Sachin Tendulkar. As it transpired, the team flopped in the Test series, losing four of the five Tests. And with each passing day, as the performance of the team got more ragged, his Scindia’s phone calls to Australia increased. Captain Mohammed Azharuddin was spoken to occasionally, tour managers Abbas ali Baig and Ranbir Singh Mahendra more often.

Mahendra, who incidentally lost to Pawar in the BCCI elections last week, was the administrative manager and also a Congress party colleague of Scindia, so became the point person on tour for the BCCI president to get information and deliver instructions. At the start, the inquiries were more; as the tour progressed, and the results worsened, the instructions overtook the questions. Rumours abounded that Scindia was not only telling Baig and Azhar — through Mahendra — which players to choose for a Test, but also which order they should bat. This was never corroborated, but the discomfort in the team over the president’s long-distance ‘tutorials’ was evident.

A few years later, when I went to Gwalior to report on Scindia’s election campaign, I asked him of his feelings during the Indian cricket team’s tour of 1991-92. he was candid. “It was frustrating watching the team lose day after day,’’ he said. “There were so many things which could so easily have been put right. But in hindsight, I was wrong. I think it put the captain and the team under greater pressure.’’

Most BCCI presidents have been splendid chaps, their love for the game undisputed. Yet power intoxicates like nothing else, and when the whole sweep of Indian cricket — the office bearers, the selectors, the finances, the state associations and by extension the players — is under one person, other desires and quirks suddenly begin to manifest themselves.

As he takes guard for his new role, Sharad Pawar might find Scindia’s ‘confession’ useful. His biggest test as cricket chief will be to keep himself out of the cricket, as it were.

Email: ayaz@dnaindia.net