Varun Aaron: fast, but not fearsome

[Straight Drive]

He got injured in December 2011 while playing last match against WI with back stress fracture in the spine, he did come back in IPL 2012, played a few matches but fracture recurred again and then he had to go through a surgery last year in Feb and then he made a come back through Ranji trophy where he id well for Jharkhand and then came back to Indian team on NZ tour. Before his stress fracture, he had played 4 matches taking 6 wickets at 26 with an ER of 5.7 and stress fractures have nothing to do with general fitness. They are stress related injuries which happen to every young genuine fast bowler at a young age. He made some changes to his bowling action after he recovered from surgery which is still settling in and the reason he has been losing control and it will take more bowling for him. I guess you did not watch him before he was injured. I can give you some youtube videos to do that.

Firstly, thank for the information related to his injury. Stress fracture is a fitness issue of a muscle.He has to cope with it and minimize the chances because he will be playing at least a decade either at international or domestic level.To be successful he has to maintain fitness , be it muscle fitness, flexibility etc.Otherwise things will get more tougher for him.It is upto him and his support staff though.There is no excuse whatsover at the level which he is playing.It is intense cricket and he has to ensure he is getting stronger while maintaining flexibility.Tough to be both but with so much of money,support staff and expertise available to cricketers nowadays it is possible to improve fitness.If he still gets injured after giving his best then its understandable.The bottom line for Indian think tank however is not how he gets injured, but whether he is fit to be in playing 11 and bowl 10 overs and field remaining 40 overs. No, i do not get to watch matches on weekdays unless i am on leave or its some holiday.I have watched him in couple of NZL-IND ODI's and one match in Asia cup.Subjectively he looked out of control in most of the overs.He is definitely not better than Shami and also not better than Bhuvi at the moment.How many matches should be given to him to gain control is up to the management and they did drop him for last match.There is no way India would have rested valuable players considering that we lost 5 ODI's to NZL and 2 to SouthAfrica.From my point of view, i would have had a look at Ishwars bowling rather than having a look at Binnys bowling.

[rkt.india]

Firstly, thank for the information related to his injury. Stress fracture is a fitness issue of a muscle..

Stress fracture is not a muscle injury and is not related to fitness. Stress fracture is a bone injury happened in spine. He had L5 disc injury which happens when you put an excessive stress on the back bones which happens in young fast bowlers whose bodies are not yet matured and strong enough to take that stress. Umesh Yadav also suffered 2-3 stress fractures, last time in 2012 after Ahmedabad test against England, which had ruled him out for 6 months and he was one of the fittest cricketer in India. Mitchell Johnson suffered 4 stress fracture like Aaron by the time he was 22-23. Brett Lee suffered stress fracture of spine when he was 21 which forced him to change his action. Regarding Ishwar, If they did not play Aaron then it has to be Ishwar who should ave replaced him and not binny or even Mishra could have played on that slow track, but he would be useless in dew.

[Straight Drive]

Stress fracture is not a muscle injury and is not related to fitness. Stress fracture is a bone injury happened in spine. He had L5 disc injury which happens when you put an excessive stress on the back bones which happens in young fast bowlers whose bodies are not yet matured and strong enough to take that stress. Umesh Yadav also suffered 2-3 stress fractures, last time in 2012 after Ahmedabad test against England, which had ruled him out for 6 months and he was one of the fittest cricketer in India. Mitchell Johnson suffered 4 stress fracture like Aaron by the time he was 22-23. Brett Lee suffered stress fracture of spine when he was 21 which forced him to change his action. Regarding Ishwar, If they did not play Aaron then it has to be Ishwar who should ave replaced him and not binny or even Mishra could have played on that slow track, but he would be useless in dew.

If it is bone injury then it is not much of his mistake.I thought it was muscle injury rather than bone fracture. If we are not going to have a look at Ishwar now then things are going to be very difficult going in to the world Cup.If Shami goes out of form during WC then we are screwed up.So it is essential to give all the bowlers a good series at least.The only optimal way we can give Ishwar some matches is by dropping the least performing bowler, who at this moment is Varun.

[rkt.india]

If it is bone injury then it is not much of his mistake.I thought it was muscle injury rather than bone fracture. If we are not going to have a look at Ishwar now then things are going to be very difficult going in to the world Cup.If Shami goes out of form during WC then we are screwed up.So it is essential to give all the bowlers a good series at least.The only optimal way we can give Ishwar some matches is by dropping the least performing bowler, who at this moment is Varun.

Pandey should have played last ODI against NZ resting Shami.

[CG]

If it is bone injury then it is not much of his mistake.I thought it was muscle injury rather than bone fracture. If we are not going to have a look at Ishwar now then things are going to be very difficult going in to the world Cup.If Shami goes out of form during WC then we are screwed up.So it is essential to give all the bowlers a good series at least.The only optimal way we can give Ishwar some matches is by dropping the least performing bowler, who at this moment is Varun.

U do not change bowlers on 3-4 matches.Ishwar pandey is also going to get hammered on these pitches then u go back to vinay kumar,mithun then again yadav ..... cycle goes on till world cup. Team management have to do what they do with batsman pick 3-4 bowlers and play them and give them experience for wc .My choice would be shami,b.k,yadav,aaron keeping wc in mind.Just rotate between these guys and give specific role like death bowling to aaron ,shami and new ball to yadav, bhuvi .the more they practice the roles they become better.

[Straight Drive]

Pandey should have played last ODI against NZ resting Shami.

India had lost SouthAfrica test and ODI series.Then we lost the initial ODI's versus NZL. As our team was on a losing spree overseas there was no scope to rest our best bowler at that point of time.Yes, we still got whitewash with Shami, but without him things would have got more worse.Not playing the few in form players when the team is on losing spree would have got more worse losses.if we win Asia cup then there is a case of resting Shami.Otherwise i don't see any captain wanting to flirt with idea of resting performing players when the team is not winning any series.

U do not change bowlers on 3-4 matches.Ishwar pandey is also going to get hammered on these pitches then u go back to vinay kumar,mithun then again yadav ..... cycle goes on till world cup. Team management have to do what they do with batsman pick 3-4 bowlers and play them and give them experience for wc .My choice would be shami,b.k,yadav,aaron keeping wc in mind.Just rotate between these guys and give specific role like death bowling to aaron ,shami and new ball to yadav, bhuvi .the more they practice the roles they become better.

How can you be sure that Ishwar will get hammered as well without giving him a chance.He might get hammered worse than Varun but he might also do better than him. We need wickets upfront and hence Shami should be given the new ball imo.Bhuv and others have not taken 3-4 wickets as frequently as Shami is taking nowadays.

[CG]

India had lost SouthAfrica test and ODI series.Then we lost the initial ODI's versus NZL. As our team was on a losing spree overseas there was no scope to rest our best bowler at that point of time.Yes, we still got whitewash with Shami, but without him things would have got more worse.Not playing the few in form players when the team is on losing spree would have got more worse losses.if we win Asia cup then there is a case of resting Shami.Otherwise i don't see any captain wanting to flirt with idea of resting performing players when the team is not winning any series. How can you be sure that Ishwar will get hammered as well without giving him a chance.He might get hammered worse than Varun but he might also do better than him. We need wickets upfront and hence Shami should be given the new ball imo.Bhuv and others have not taken 3-4 wickets as frequently as Shami is taking nowadays.

These pitches are graveyards for fast bowlers.Regarding shami wickets most in first odi most were due to poor shots by batsman and on these wickets thats going to be the case.

[Straight Drive]

These pitches are graveyards for fast bowlers.Regarding shami wickets most in first odi most were due to poor shots by batsman and on these wickets thats going to be the case.

So what.All bowlers gets wicket because batsmen make mistakes.If batsman does not make mistakes or are forced to makes mistakes by bowlers how will the wicket fall.Shami deserves credit as he was standout bowler on same wickets where Bhuv and Varun has bowled and against same opponents. Even in SouthAfrica,he was taking 3 wickets and that too of high quality batters like Kallis,Amla etc. In NZL too he was top most Indian wicket taker and probably top most wicket taker amongst both teams bowlers as well.

[Crookbond]

The problem with India is that bowlers as themselves are a rare commodity. One bad bowler spoils the balance of the attack. This is unlike South Africa or Australia where you have some sort of a cushion with the other bowlers around. Therefore, bowlers tend to get dropped in India due to 3-4 bad performances.

[vvvslaxman]

At this point INdia's best chance is to work as a unit like couple of wickets each. We don't have bowlers to run through opposition. Infact in one dayers it is a rare thing these days. So India has to form a nucleus and stick with it for substantial period.

[MCcricket]

Basically it is the attitude which is the reason for our mediocre performance abroad and see the difference the minnows Afg have beaten Bangladesh, their bowler are around 135 to 140 k but they are very aggressive and have the killer instinct along with a positive approach, Aaron, Umesh, Shami are fast bowlers and need to be supported and Virat , Dhoni , Fletcher can learn, only during Ganguly and Dravid era our bowlers were supported and showed results, Dhoni is worse , Virat seems better. Be it SA, AUS , OR MINNOWS LIKE AFG, OR Pakistan WE HAVE SEEN , WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IS PICK UP BOWLERS WITH PACE AND BE AGGRESSIVE, and for all those whining about lack of options is bullshit, selectors and especially Dhoni has to be blamed for it, we have 4 bowlers who can bowl between 140 to 150 k which is serious pace and Shami is pacy too, so it is the lack of thought from coach, captain, selectors which is hurting us. If we have Suyal, Shami, Aaron, Shukla, Umesh along with BK , Pandey, Pankaj in our test and odi squad per skills then definetly they will give results, we need to loose this defeatist attitude and get the fast bowlers and support them, in Australia if we play Shami, Suyal, Umesh along with Irfan we could have a potentially good attack with BK and Shami showing signs of good improvement.

[ThePhenomenal1]

Basically it is the attitude which is the reason for our mediocre performance abroad and see the difference the minnows Afg have beaten Bangladesh, their bowler are around 135 to 140 k but they are very aggressive and have the killer instinct along with a positive approach, Aaron, Umesh, Shami are fast bowlers and need to be supported and Virat , Dhoni , Fletcher can learn, only during Ganguly and Dravid era our bowlers were supported and showed results, Dhoni is worse , Virat seems better. Be it SA, AUS , OR MINNOWS LIKE aFG, OR Pakistan WE HAVE SEEN , WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IS PICK UP BOWLERS WITH PACE AND BE AGGRESSIVE, and for all those whining about lack of options is bullshit, selectors and especially Dhoni has to be blamed for it, we have 4 bowlers who can bowl between 140 to 150 k which is serious pace and Shami is pacy too, so it is the lack of thought from coach, captain, selectors which is hurting us. If we have Suyal, Shami, Aaron, Shukla, Umesh along with BK , Pandey, Pankaj in our test and odi squad per skills then defiantly they will give results, we need to loose this defestist attitude and get the fast bowlers and support them, in Australia if we play Shami, Suyal, Umesh along with Irfan we could have a potentially good attack with BK and Shami showing signs of good improvement.

exactly, minnows like Afghan have showed us that a fighting spirit and backing quality pace bowlers (you would not think they could do it but they have!) can get results. we have so many pacers but at the domestic level the poor pitches, lack of effort, lack of fitness etc have just prevented any fast bowling culture.

[Straight Drive]

Dropped today as well.Not surprised.Hope Varun takes this positively and comes back as a better cricketer for this level.

[express bowling]

It's just not me who thinks he does not has control so far' date=' but Dhoni too dropped him and Virat too dropped him.He definitely has not given any reason apart from pace to warrant a selection in playing 11.I would not be surprised if Ishwar gets a debut versus Pakistan.[/quote'] Aaron has not bowled with control after his return. BUT Before his injury , Aaron was an accurate bowler. Combined pace with control. He is bowling 140 to 150 k. Such pace is extremely rare in in India. Infact, there are very few pacers in the world at any point in time, who can touch 150 k or go very close. Aaron is coming back after a really long injury layoff. If Aaron can go back to combining accuracy with high pace then imagine the effect. He has to be given the long rope to see if he can do it, especially because he is coming back from a serious injury. Why are some of you guys so impatient with him after a couple of bad matches ?

[Cricket_Hacker]

Aaron actually increased pace after the injury

[express bowling]

India badly needs a good pacer who gets steep bounce at decent speeds. Someone who bowls the heavy ball. After Javagal Srinath, we have not found such a pacer. Munaf Patel and Ishant have flattered to deceive. Both lost their pace. Ishant is a bad bowler on top of that.

[rkt.india]

Should have played him today, keeping also in mind T20 WC coming up.

[Straight Drive]

With Mishy having done well the chances of Ishwar getting a debut are on hold for the moment.

[rkt.india]

With Mishy having done well the chances of Ishwar getting a debut are on hold for the moment.

We are out of the tourny, so Shami and BK should be rested. T20 WC is coming up. You cannot burn them playing every game, especially Shami and then Mishra cannot play everywhere, so we need to try new bowlers keeping an eye on England and Aus tour, and 2015 WC . Both Pandey and Aaron need to play next game resting BK and Shami.

[gaurav92]

We are out of the tourny' date=' so Shami and BK should be rested. T20 WC is coming up. You cannot burn them playing every game, especially Shami and then [b']Mishra cannot play everywhere, so we need to try new bowlers keeping an eye on England and Aus tour, and 2015 WC .

And why is that so? He can be handy on the Aussie tracks being a wrist spinner. Generally, its the finger spinners who struggle there, wrist spinners should be good. In England, well may be, but leg spinners are always wicket taking options, if I were to play one spinner in Aus, SAF or Eng, I would pick Mishra ahead of a finger spinner.