Paul Allott impressed by pacer Varun

Young Indian speedster Aaron impresses former England fast bowler with 3-wicket haul on debut against England at Wankhede

Paul Allott impressed by pacer Varun

Young Indian speedster Aaron impresses former England fast bowler with 3-wicket haul on debut against England at Wankhede

Former England fast bowler Paul Allott reckoned India have "a gem in their hands" in the form of Varun Aaron who took three wickets on his ODI debut against England here at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Aaron's late burst gave ample hope to detractors who felt fast bowling in India was merely about variations and cutters.

Paul Allott

Firstly, he removed left-hander Scott Borthwick with a ball that kept low, but nipped back from an off-stump line to clip the middle stump. Next, he cleaned up fellow quick bowler Stuart Meaker with a yorker length ball that reversed at pace to uproot the leg-stump. And finally, he beat England's top-scorer Tim Bresnan with one that pitched middle-and-leg and kissed the off-stump. There was a slight delay in the celebration as the Jharkhand lad hadn't noticed the flying bails. A few seconds later, he saw his skipper head to the pavilion and that brought a broad smile to his face.u00a0

Fast & furious: Varun Aaron at the Wankhede Stadium yesterday.
Pics/Suresh KK

Super swinger
During the innings interval, former cricketers were abuzz with the ability of the youngster. "He's an outstanding young fast bowler. India have a gem in their hands. He uses his shoulder to good effect and can swing the ball both ways. Only thing he can work on is keeping his chin upright at the time of delivery. Otherwise, he's got all the basics right. I love his smooth run-up too. He got to reverse (swing) the ball that was only 20 overs old (after he came back into the attack in the 40th over. Obviously, he must have worked hard on that art," Allott told MiD DAY yesterday.

Besides a low full toss that Aaron bowled in his first spell that deservedly got smacked to the mid-wicket fence by Kevin Pietersen, the 21-year-old quick showed immense control with his line and length. That was displayed in his pitch map at the end of the England innings.

The Lancashire great felt India must take care of Aaron and injured fast bowler Umesh Yadav. Incidentally, it was Yadav's injury that made way for Aaron's ODI debut yesterday. "I think India must make a conscious effort to take care of both him (Aaron) and young Umesh Yadav -- another bowler I was very impressed with. I am amazed that neither of them played during India's tour of England."

On England's total of 220, Allott felt the batsmen were yet to "crack it" with regards to batting in Indian conditions.u00a0 "It's very disappointing (that we crumbled yet again). The ball wasn't turning, but they (the batsmen) allowed the Indian spinners to take so many wickets. I am worried because we (England) are to travel to India next year for four Test matches. We need to improve quickly. There was too much shuffling going on at the crease. The batsmen hadn't learned their lessons. Instead of playing with soft hands, they kept going after the ball. The footwork was also poor," he rued.