Mumbai, Oct 23: Varun Aaron, India’s brand new pace option, comes across as a mature and balanced 21-year-old. Having caught the eye of seniors thanks to his sheer pace, the lad from Jharkhand was drafted into the injury-ridden Indian team during the tour to England a few weeks ago. The youngster spoke to bcci.tv after his three-wicket haul on debut at the Wankhede.

Although he did not play a single match in England, Aaron utilised his time on the sidelines to hone his skills further. “Being with the team helped; I learnt a lot sitting out and working with my team-mates and bowling in the nets. So yeah, it came good after eight matches.

“Watching games you obviously pick up a few faults of the batsmen and where their strengths are. So you seek to bowl that way,” Aaron told bcci.tv.

He added, “I didn’t meet Zaheer Khan in England at all; I met him recently when I was in NCA [National Cricket Academy] after the England tour so I spoke to him and he gave me a few insights on how [the England batsmen] play and what to bowl, so it was a little helpful.”

Given the opportunity to play for the country after a freak injury to fellow pacer Umesh Yadav, Aaron made an impact by claiming three wickets on debut.

“The wicket was a little slow, as it was throughout the match, but in the first spell I just tried to bowl a good line and keep them quiet and in the second spell [the ball] started reversing so I knew I would be up for a few wickets. I was happy; the second spell offered me more than the first spell.”

Aaron, who has had a good season so far after a successful outing during the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia, agreed, “Getting into the side because of a good performance at the India A and Ranji Trophy levels does give you the confidence that you have earned your place in the squad.”

The young cricketer is aware of the fact that he belongs to the rare species of fast bowlers and is already working hard to maintain his pace and strength. “It’s more an all-round thing. I work a lot on all aspects of my fitness and I keep a good check on my action […] so it all adds up to me bowling fast. God-willing I will stay strong, play hard and bowl at a good pace.”

Although he did not open the bowling for India in this instance, he did comment on the use of the new ball at both ends, as per the amended rules for international ODIs. “I don’t think it makes much of a difference because anyway they [used to] change [the ball] after the 34th over; so at least [now] you have one ball which you can work on and it reverses later on so honestly from my point of view I don’t feel it’s much of a difference at all.”

“[But now that a new ball is used at both ends,] then you have a ball which is fairly new, which hasn’t been on the ground for 35 overs. It does reverse but it would reverse a little later [than if only one new ball were used to begin with]. But the ball today was reversing pretty well,” he said.