India v Australia: Varun Aaron Must Bank on His Pace, Says Coach

Varun Aaron should fight fire with fire, says his coach Subroto Banerjee. Aaron has been impressive in the two warm-up matches leading up to the first India versus Australia Test match starting in Adelaide on December 9 (Tuesday) and Banerjee, a former India speedster, wants the Jharkhand quickie to use his pace on Australian wickets.

Speaking to ABPLive, Banerjee said Aaron needs to concentrate on the basics of fast bowling to pick wickets. Aaron has been among wickets in the two warm-up matches and on Thursday at Adelaide's Gliderol Stadium, he picked four wickets for 41 runs to restrict Cricket Australia XI to 243 all out. He was well supported by Bengal seamer Mohammed Shami, who took 2 for 37.

"He is one of the quickest bowlers, and that's an advantage for him," Banerjee said, adding that Aaron needed to stick to the basics of line and length and not get carried away by pace and bounce.

In the first warm-up match, played in Adelaide on November 24-25, Aaron was also among the wickets. He took three wickets for 80 and was by far India's most impressive quickie on show. (World Cup: Team India's 30-Man Probables List)

"We are still in regular touch. Now that he has regained his momentum, he needs to use his brain and analyse each and every situation. That would help him. There will be chances coming his way, he just needs to utilise them properly," said 45-year-old Banerjee, who took eight wickets in a short career spanning a Test and six ODIs.

Banerjee has some knowledge of Australian wickets. His only Test was at Sydney in January 1992. Coming in as the third seamer in the Indian team - Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar shared the new ball then - Banerjee took three for 82, including the big wickets of openers Geoff Marsh and Mark Taylor.

Injury-prone Aaron has worked on his action and fitness and Banerjee feels the 25-year-old from Jamshedpur is ready to fire on all cylinders. "He has always been a hardworking guy, and is always willing to learn. That has gone in his favour. We have discussed every aspect before he flew to Australia, and the performances in the practice games indicate that he has worked hard on the weak links," Banerjee pointed out.

Aaron was impressive in England. In his three Tests so far, Aaron has picked eight wickets. If Team India has to look Australia in the eye, Aaron should be MS Dhoni's go-to man for sure. "He will surely be effective in such conditions, and now that he will have a fair idea about the wickets Down Under, Varun would come in handy for India in World Cup," said Banerjee, who coaches Sachin Tendulkar's son, Arjun.