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Will
Delhi Unleash the World’s Fastest Indian?
Posted
on April 10, 2011 by AR Hemant
On the eve of the India-West Indies
match in Chennai, I visited the MRF Pace academy, a
few minutes away from the Chidambaram Stadium.
Nestled in a leafy corner on the campus of the
Madras Christian College in Chetpet, the Academy
wasn’t easy to locate.
But having arrived there, I realised
it wasn’t the best time of the year to be
visiting. The training season was a few months away.
The Academy looked quiet, empty. On the practice
wickets, a few youngsters were having an evening
knockabout. I caught their attention as I walked
past the Academy gates.
Upon closer inspection, one of them
turned out to be an India discard from the mid-00s,
now with an IPL team. It seemed he had gained
weight. Or maybe the myth about TV adding 10 pounds
works the other way around.
Two boys were in the academy gym. One
of them walked out, and I chatted him up about what
was going on at the academy. He said his name was
Varun. He played for MRF; that he had been training
at the Academy for nearly six years. After a small
chat, he returned to the gym.
A few minutes later, the lone trainer
present at the gym walked out. I asked him about any
interesting talents who’d been to the Academy
lately. He pointed to the boy I had been speaking
to. “That’s Varun there,” he said.
“He is India’s fastest bowler.”
During the course of the evening,
much was learnt about Varun Aaron, where he came
from and what he was capable of.
The 21-year-old grew up in Jamshedpur
and represents Jharkhand in domestic cricket. His
claim to fame? In the recently concluded Vijay
Hazare Trophy, in the final against Gujarat, Aaron
clocked 153.4 KMPH, making him the fastest Indian
bowler on record. [Here’s a fan video of the
event]
Aaron had been with Kolkata Knight
Riders the previous season. A stress fracture of the
back kept him out of action. He was fit for the last
four games of the tournament, but didn't get a
break. With due apologies to Burt Munro, Delhi
Daredevils, not he, can lay claim on the world’s
fastest Indian now.
A lot of Indian pacers in recent
times have made impressive beginnings, but then lost
their edge quickly. Irfan Pathan bowled in the high
140s on his debut series in Australia. Munaf Patel
was, at one time, touted to be the fastest in India.
Zaheer Khan used to be much quicker, but has
eschewed pace for control. The list goes on.
Aaron, however says, he's not about
to give up on pace.
"Bowling quick is what I do
best. I am not going to change my thinking because I
will be bowling to international players in a
Twenty20 match," Aaron told TOI recently,
adding that "I can assure you that I'll be the
quickest Indian bowler in IPL if I get the chance to
play."
Aaron has recovered from the stress
fracture. He says he has made corrections to his
bowling action. It used to be left-heavy — the
reason for the fracture — but he is now running in
straight.
His
action is uncomplicated, smooth, economical. Like
Glenn McGrath, he has no exaggerated movement of
limbs. He shuffles towards the bowling crease with
his shoulders low, butt jutting out. There's no
pronounced leap at the crease, just a little pop. He
remains straight-on, unlike lots of express-quick
bowlers. It would seem he's just another seamer
running in to hurl a harmless delivery. But a really
quick whip of the right arm and wrist follows, and
the ball flies at speeds unheard of in Indian
cricket.
25 wickets in 11 First Class games
may not seem like much. But he's done better in
limited overs cricket. He has two fivers in 11 games
in which he has taken 23 wickets. He's learnt things
from Dennis Lillee at the Academy and Wasim Akram at
the KKR.
The Academy's former chief coach TA
Sekhar is excited by Aaron. "He should be
groomed properly and the national selectors should
keep an eye on him," he said. Also, like most
quick bowlers, Aaron is a strongly-built boy capable
of big-hitting, as he has shown in domestic cricket.
His batting strike rate in 50-over cricket is 158.
On Sunday, Delhi Daredevils play the
first game of the IPL against Mumbai Indians. Delhi
is a team without many big-ticket players. KKR
didn't give Aaron a break. But perhaps, it is time
for the Daredevils to let the 'Tatanagar Express'
loose.
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# Date & Time Match
Venue Result
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Headlines
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Film
stars?
What
if the top cricketers were film stars!
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News
Roundup
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| Good
Shot |
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Tennis
star Anna Kournikova is a much-in-demand model too.
The Russian beauty has added sizzle to the covers of
magazines across the world including the Sports
Illustrated. She has also been voted the ‘hottest
female athlete’ by ESPN.com.
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| Sports
Info |
Indians at Beijing Olympics
Indian sportsmen and sportswomen have enjoyed
their share of laurels in the Asian
Games, Commonwealth Games and also in other
individual contests. But, apart from hockey, the
gold medal had eluded India in other Olympic
disciplines.
At the just concluded 29th Olympics
in Beijing, China, Indian sportsmen performed their
best since India began participating in the Olympics
in 1928. For the first time three Indians won
individual medals. Abinav Bindra won gold for
shooting, Vijender Kumar won bronze for boxing and
Sushil Kumar won bronze for wrestling. And few other
Indian sportsmen came very close to winning medals,
like Akhil Kumar and Jitendra Kumar in boxing,
losing their quarter final bouts. And few more like
Saina Nehwal in badminton and some others showed
great promise.
This international exposure will certainly
benefit them in future campaigns. With this
encouraging performance by many Indian sportsmen,
India can look forward to some more medals in the
next 2012 London Olympics.
India’s success in World Sports
-
India’s
success in Olympic hockey ran over three decades
from Amsterdam in 1928 to Rome in 1960. Losing
first to the foremost rival in the game,
Pakistan. India managed to regain the title in
Tokyo in 1964 and at Moscow in 1980.
-
In
football, India has had its run of triumphs. Two
gold and a bronze in the Asian games and fourth
place in the Melbourne Olympics.
-
In
wrestling, Bishambar won silver in the World
Championship and K Jadav, a bronze in Olympics.
-
In
Tennis, Ramnathan Krishnan and Vijay Amritraj
had been ranked among the world’s foremost
players. Both had taken India to the Davis Cup
finals and won Wimbeldon titles. And now Leander
Paes and Mahesh Bhupati have brought laurels to
the country.
-
In
badminton, Prakash Padukone and later Phulela
Gopichand won the All England crown and many
important tournaments.
-
In
billiards, Wilson Jones and Michael Ferreira
brought the World Cup to India and Arvind Savur
was among the top four of the World’s amateurs
in snooker.
Cricket Titbits
-
Nari
Contractor,
India captain in the sixties was hit on
the head by West Indies fast blower Gilgrist.
Those days there were no helmets as today. As he
was battling for his life, Mansur Ali Khan
Pataudi at 21, became the youngest captain to
lead India in a test match.
-
Sunil
Gavaskar was named ‘Cricketer of the Year’
by Wisden in 1980.
-
Farokh
Engineer, the wicket-keeper batsman could set on
fire any cricket match both through aggressive
batting and breath-taking performance behind the
stumps. He was chosen to play for the World
Eleven a number of times. In 46 tests, he caught
66 batsmen and stumped 16.
-
Ranji
Trophy is named after prince Ranjitsinhji of
Nawanagar. Ranjitsinhji played his cricket in
England.
-
Duleep
Trophy is named after Ranjitsinhji’s nephew K
S Duleepsinhji. Played for England with
distinction, scoring a century on debut.
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| Fun
Zone |
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People
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Rahul Sharad Dravid was
born in 11 January 1973 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh
into a Maharashtrian Deshastha family living in
Karnataka. His paternal ancestors were Iyers from
Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. He grew up in Bangalore,
Karnataka. He has a younger brother, Vijay. Both the
brothers grew up in a simple middle class
atmosphere. Dravid's father worked for Kissan, a
company known for producing jams and preserves and
thus he earned the nickname Jammy from his teammates
at St. Joseph's Boys' High School, Bangalore. His
mother, Pushpa, was a professor of Architecture at
Bangalore University. Rahul Dravid has a degree in
commerce from St Joseph's College of Commerce
Bangalore, Karnataka. On 4 May 2003, he married Dr.
Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur and on 11
October 2005, their son, Samit, was born. On 27
April 2009, Vijeta gave birth to their second son,
Anvay.
Rahul Sharad Dravid
(born 11 January 1973) is one of the most
experienced cricketers in the Indian national team,
of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He
was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket
team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in
September 2007. Dravid was honored as one of the
five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2000. Dravid
was also awarded the ICC Player of the Year and the
Test Player of the Year at the inaugural awards
ceremony held in 2004. On 27th December 2010, he
took his 200th Test catch to get rid of Dale Steyn.
Known as the Wall due
to his ability to bat for long durations, and Jammy
due to his endorsement of Kissan, a jam company, and
also because his father worked for Kissan, Dravid
holds multiple world cricketing records. He is the
second Indian batsman, after Sachin Tendulkar, and
the third international player to have scored more
than 12,000 runs in Test cricket. On 14 February
2007, he became the sixth player in the history of
world cricket and the third Indian, after Sachin
Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, to score 10,000 runs
in ODI cricket. He is the first and the only batsman
to score a century in all ten Test playing nations.
With 200 catches, Dravid currently holds the world
record for the highest number of catches in Test
cricket. Dravid has also been involved in more than
80 century partnerships with 18 different partners
and has been inolved in 19 century partnerships with
Sachin Tendulkar — a world record.
1973 - Born 11 January
1973, in Indore
1984 - Attended a
summer coaching camp at KSCA's Chinnaswamy Stadium,
Bangalore, where his talents were spotted by former
cricketer turned coach Keki Tarapore.
Scores his first
century in an unofficial match for his school team
St. Joseph's against St. Anthony's.
Scores a double hundred
for the Karnataka schools team which he smashed
against Kerala.
Selected for the
under-15 Karnataka team.
Stops keeping wickets
on advice from Gundappa Vishwanath, Roger Binny,
Brijesh Patel and coach Keki Tarapore.
1985 - Gets recognised
in Bangalore as a prodigy after becoming the first
ever to score a century in the Cottonian Shield
inter school tournament (Juniors) for St. Josephs
High School against Baldwin Boys' High School, in
the final.
1991 - Ranji debut
against Maharashtra.
1996 - Double century
in Ranji finals, vs. Tamil Nadu.
1996 - Test debut at
Lords, England after Sanjay Manjrekar was injured
and Navjot Singh Sidhu flew back home after a fracas
with captain Azharuddin. Makes 95.
1997 - Maiden Test
hundred (148), vs. South Africa, third Test,
Johannesburg.
1997 - First one day
hundred (107), vs. Pakistan, Independence Cup,
Chennai.
1998 - Dropped from One
Day squad for the ODI tournament in Bangladesh.
1999 - Hundred in both
innings (190,103) against New Zealand in Hamilton.
1999 - Makes 461 runs,
including three 50s and two 100s in World Cup.
1999 - Signs up with
Kent for the 2000 English county season.
2001 - Scores 180,
while V. V. S. Laxman makes 281, in a fifth-wicket
stand of 376 as India defeat Australia at Eden
Gardens, ending 16 Test-winning streak by Australia.
2004 - Career best 270
against Pakistan, at Rawalpindi.
2005 - Succeeds Sourav
Ganguly as Test and ODI captain.
2005 - The Nice Guy Who
Finished First by Devendra Prabhudesai, released by
coach Greg Chappell.
2006 - Scores first
century as captain, at Lahore, vs. Pakistan.
2006 - Contributed in a
remarkable 410 runs partnership with Sehwag at
Multan.
2006 - Leads India to
snatch their first ever test victory on South
African soil.
2007 - Leads India in
the 2007 Cricket World Cup, held in West Indies.
2007 - After India's
tour of England, resigns from Indian captaincy.
2007 - Dropped from the
Indian ODI Squad after poor series against
Australia.
2008 - Reached the
landmark of 10,000 Test runs, in the first Test of
the series against South Africa in Chennai on 29
March
2009 - Reached the
catching record for a fielder in test cricket with
182 catches, in the third test against New Zealand
in Wellington on 6 April.
2010 - Reached the
landmark of taking 200 catches by a non-wicketkeeper
in tests, against South Africa at Durban on 28th
December
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