Not stubborn about my speed: Varun Aaron

Extreme pace is a rare commodity in India. Even if someone somewhere bowls 150kmph, it could well be a one-off instance. Bowling at 140-150 pace is surely a rarity more so because an injury scare is always plaguing these fast bowlers. But meet Varun Raymond Aaron, the newest addition in the Indian bowling line-up, and he almost makes it seem like he is stubborn about his speed. He first grabbed the headlines when he bowled at 153kmph during the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy early this year. He was bowling for Jharkhand against a good batting line-up in Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat unit.

At first, spectators at the match assumed that the speed gun had displayed a wrong reading. But it wasn’t. He was constantly bowling at 140-150. “Why should I give up on speed? Of course there is injury worry but that just purely depends on how fit you are,” says Varun Aaron with a slight hint of arrogance in his tone. But that is perhaps what sets this bowler apart from the rest. He is a typical example of the new age cricketer — sharp, bold and sure of what he needs to do to make it big. He bowled an impressive 3/24 in his debut game against England in October and later made a Test debut against West Indies. Though he was picked for the current Test Series that is underway in Australia, he was left out at the last minute due to injury.

In an exclusive interview to Sportskeeda.com, Aaron talks about his fascination for speed and his interactions with Saurav Ganguly during his brief stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders. Excerpts:

Saurav Ganguly was the one who predicted that Varun Aaron would be the next big thing in Indian bowling. Tell us about your interactions with him.

I was with the KKR team in 2010. Though I suffered from stress fracture and couldn’t play any matches for them that season, I had attended their camp in Kolkata and had bowled to Ganguly during nets and practice games. That’s when he noticed me and after that he sort of did predict that I would make it to the team.

You have battled stress fracture. What exactly is a stress fracture and how long did you take before you got on to the field again?

You could get a stress fracture when you overbowl yourself. It usually happens when you are young and your lower back can’t take that pressure. I am glad it happened to me at a very young age because it sort of helps you work on your core at an early stage in your career. Some bowlers do get it when they are 26-27 but that just makes it harder to recover. My recovery took about five months. The initial two months I just had to work on my core and then slowly took to running and endurance. It was only in the last one month of recovery that I had started to bowl again.

You almost make it seem like you are stubborn about speed. You have earlier stated that you would rather have your speed going than concentrate on line and length?

It’s not that I am stubborn about my speed. I mean, you can’t have a spin bowler spin less so that he gets to concentrate on something else. I am a fast bowler and I am meant to bowl at a good speed and when I know my ability to do that then why not?

In the past, bowlers like Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel have compromised on their speed after getting into international cricket so that they are able to concentrate on their line and length. Injury too could be a worry. Don’t these things bother you at all?

I think it’s really what the bowler chooses to do. The options are all there. It’s not a conscious effort or anything that the bowler reduces speed. For me, I think it’s all about fitness. You can’t be a fast bowler and carry around extra weight. Injury can be a worry but luckily this year (2011) has been fairly good for me except towards the end when I got that injury.

Your injury just before the team left for Australia came as a surprise. How did that happen?

I thought I picked up this injury after the Cuttack one-dayer. I didn’t feel up for it during the Vizag game. I got it tested after that match and it turned out to be positive. It was a bit disappointing to be left out in the last minute but I am hopeful of getting back into the One-Day squad. I have been training well at the NCA and will go in for a review test in a couple of days. I can’t expect to be recalled unless I am fully fit. So let’s see what happens.

You trained under coach Eric Simmons. What was that experience like?

I trained under him during the IPL season this year. I played for Delhi Daredevils and my interaction with him has helped me quite a lot. He is a very good coach and he tells us about the very obvious things which we usually miss and realise only when he points out. He has been good that way.

What is this fascination you have for Andy Roberts?

I think he is the greatest bowler ever. I find him very amusing. I don’t quite find any fast bowler as inspiring. I have always liked him as a kid.

Have you always been a fan of cricket? Didn’t you ever want to choose a different sport?

I come from a sporting family. My mother has played basketball for Karnataka and Jharkhand while my dad has played a fair bit of club hockey. I have always been drawn towards cricket and getting family support was never a problem. My parents fully understand what it takes to be a professional sportsperson and I’ve been lucky in that regard.

Today, the Indian selectors have quite a few options when it comes to fast bowlers. Does that add a little bit of extra pressure because there is that much more competition to make it into the team?

Well, competition is always good right? It always pushes you to do better. It could be a bit difficult to make the cut but if you come to think of it, we have an excellent balance in the bowling line-up now. We have Zaheer, Ishant, Umesh Yadav, you have me and we have a good bench strength too which always works in the favour of a team.

You took everybody by surprise with your batting during the one dayer against West Indies. Do you work a lot on your batting as well?

(laughs) yeah, that was a good match and yeah not many would have expected me to bat. I have had a decent first class batting record. My average is about 20 and I had a good one dayers last year. Maybe that helped quite a bit. I do concentrate a fair bit on batting.