Aaron: ‘Wickets are flat, India has a great chance in England’

The speedster has a fair idea of the English conditions after his brief county stint with Leicestershire.

Varun Aaron played six one-dayers and three first-class matches for Leicestershire.

Varun Aaron is fit, aggressive and can knock any batsman down with pace. Snubbed by the Indian Premier League this season, he took the county route to avoid the pause to return as a “better bowler.”

Aaron has represented India 18 times — nine Tests and nine One Day Internationals (ODIs) — and his Leicestershire experience could bring him back to contention as the selectors finalise the Test squad for the tour of England.

The right-arm fast bowler claimed 16 wickets in 11 innings — six ODIs in the Royal London One-Day Cup and three county games — which included a six-wicket match haul — 4 for 65 and 2 for 66 — to hand Leicestershire its first win in 19 games in the County Championship.

Valuable experience

“I am glad I could contribute to Leicester’s win in that game. Bowling every alternate day in different conditions, and making your bowling suit those conditions made me learn a lot. It doesn’t happen in India. In England, if you bowl on one wicket, you can’t be complacent as you need to work out on how to bowl in the next wicket to a different opposition,” Aaron told Sportstar after returning to India.

“In the 45 days I stayed there, I was playing cricket for almost 26 days. During the ODIs, we played five games in nine days and were travelling every time,” he added.

"When you play in the county, they really take good care of you. They gave me a nice two-bedroom duplex apartment with an SUV to drive around."

The 28-year-old Aaron clarified that he hadn’t gone to England expecting to return to international cricket. “I wasn’t going there thinking I have to make a comeback. It will obviously be great if it happens. My aim was to come back to India as a better bowler and function close to my potential. The main thing is the domestic season coming up and I am confident about it,” he said.

Read: India will feel at home in England, says Kohli

Before the county sojourn, Aaron had unlocked the inswing secret with old mentor Subroto Banerjee. “In the English conditions, the batsmen often fall outside the off stump; caught behind and caught at first slip. I worked on my inswing and got a lot of leg-before dismissals,” he revealed.

Wickets in England

Aaron believes India has a great chance to win the limited-overs series in England starting in July. “The guys (in international cricket) are scoring 400 as if it is a joke. In the One-Day Cup, 300 is an average score, and you still might not win. The wickets are really flat and I feel that gives India a great chance. It will favour our batsmen. The wickets in the Tests maybe different but the general trend is flat.”

“We did well in South Africa and we will take that momentum to England,” said Aaron.