It has been a swift rise for Rajesh Pawar

Rajesh Vithal Pawar first arrived in the Bombay cricket community consciousness almost four seasons ago, as a 17-year-old, when he suddenly emerged from obscurity to battle Nilesh Kulkarni for a spot during the pre-season trials. Seldom can two competing spinners of a similar type have been so different - Kulkarni at 6 feet 3 inches brought the ball down from prodigious height with little or no flight, while the tiny Pawar tossed it up with abandon.

With the presence of two international spinners in Kulkarni and Sairaj Bahutule in the Bombay Ranji squad, the young Pawar was rarely a fixture in the final XI. He was almost always in the squad, but only regularly played when Bombay went with a threepronged spin attack, only playing 10 Ranji games in his first three seasons. He often impressed in his brief appearances though - drawing much praise for his bowling as an 18-year-old against Rest of India in the Irani Trophy, as well as in the match against the touring Australians.

He was so impressive in the latter that he was picked for the India-A team to the Netherlands (where he excelled, in common with all the other spinners in the side). Most of his regular bowling in this period was, however, still restricted to the u-19 level, where he led Bombay ably and was India u-19's first choice left-arm spinner. His u-19 career culminated with the 1998-99 season, at the end of which he won National Junior Cricketer of the Year honours.

The pint-sized 20-year old Rajesh Pawar finally emerged from the long shadows cast by spinning team-mates Kulkarni and Sairaj Bahutule only this season. Getting a lucky break into the side due to an injury to Bahutule's spinning finger before the first game of the season, Pawar grabbed the chance with both hands, claiming 11 wickets in the game. He has gone on to emerge as Bombay's leading spinner through the rest of the year (the first season he has been able to settle into the side and play almost all the games). He has been Bombay's top wicket-taker this season, having captured 33 wickets in seven matches to date, at 19.45 runs apiece, with three five-wicket hauls to date.

In addition to demonstrating greater maturity in his bowling, Pawar has lived up to his "pocket-dynamo" image with some plucky, cheekily aggressive innings with the bat in the lower order - most notably with an attacking 49 against Karnataka with his side tottering. He is also a fine fielder in the deep, covering ground with an exuberance that should be natural in one so young, but unfortunately is often the exception rather than the rule in so many young Indian cricketers.