Mumbai: It was a much awaited but delayed debut. A career that seemed to be going nowhere for a while but unfolded like a dream at the venue of India's historic World Cup triumph.
Jharkhand speedster Varun Aaron, who was a passenger throughout the ODI series in England and was staring at the same fate here before getting an opportunity due to an injury to Umesh Yadav, ended with superb figures of 6.1-1-24-3 in the fourth one-dayer against England on Sunday.
He cleaned up the England tail to emerge the most successful bowler for the side.His dismissals - S Borthwick (3), S Meaker (1) and Tim Bresnan (45) - were all bowled in different fashion at the Wankhede Stadium.Aaron, considered among the fastest bowlers in India, got the ball in his hand for the first time in the 11th over after the end of the mandatory first power-play.
His first ball touched 140.1 kmph, was on a good length just outside the off-stump and left alone by Kevin Pietersen.The start, however, did not give an indication of what was to come as Aaron, who will turn 22 on Saturday, began steadily working up good pace and stayed between the 135-145 kmph mark.
The first spell, 3-0-14-0, was largely uneventful barring two deliveries-- one when Aaron clocked a speed of 145.3 in the 13th over and second in the 15th over when Kiwi umpire Billy Bowden decided to wear "dancing shoes" after the pacer was flicked over the in-field for a boundary by Pietersen.From then onwards, Aaron seemed to have been forgotten by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the spinners worked up their magic on a slow track and at one stage even Virat Kohli had bowled more of his dibbly pacers than Aaron.
However, when he was summoned after the end of the batting powerplay for the 41st over he did not disappoint the skipper, also from the same state, ending with a second spell of 3.1-1-10-3.The turnaround came in the first delivery of his fifth over as Borthwick, playing on the backfoot, missed a ball that kept low to give Aaron his first international wicket.
The fifth ball of his next over, bowled at 142.1kmph, was a mis-directed yorker that swung in late and brushed Meaker's pads before crashing into his leg stump.By now Aaron was in full flow and the first ball of the 47th over beat the bat of the well-set Bresnan, who was threatening to take England to a respectable total, and kissed the stumps lightly as the batsman played down the wrong line.
The bail took eternity to fall and it was a while before the dismissal was noticed to bring a huge smile on the youngster's face.Bresnan's wicket marked the end of England's innings and, hopefully, the arrival of a long awaited pace sensation for India which has lost the services of so many speed merchants due to injuries recently.
