Will never compromise on pace, says India's fastest Aaron

When the speedometer showed that Varun Aaron bowled a 153 kmph delivery during Jharkhand's Vijay Hazare Trophy final against Gujarat, not many people believed that the stockily built little-known lad could work up that amount of pace.

"When you are bowling, you are unaware about the amount of speed you are working up. I only came to know about my feat when we came back in the dressing room," Aaron told PTI on Sunday.

Apart from Ishant Sharma, who clocked 150kmph plus during the CB series in Australia in 2007-08 season, none of the other Indian bowlers in recent times have hit the mark.

Aaron, who will be playing for Delhi Daredevils, in the IPL knows that everyone would expect a repeat of his performance and he is up for the challenge.

"It feels great that my feat has been acknowledged. My strength has been bowling fast and I will stick to it," 21-year old from Jamshedpur said.

The general tendency among the Indian bowlers after an injury has been to reduce pace and focus on line and length. Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel have been two prime examples sacrificing pace for line and length.

"I can talk about myself that I came back from stress fracture and still bowled fast. I am regularly hitting 140 kmph plus during matches. I will never compromise on pace," said Aaron, who recently got a five-wicket haul against West Zone in a Deodhar Trophy match.

Although he hails from the Indian captain's state, Aaron is yet to meet Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "I have never met Dhoni as when he last played for Jharkhand, I was playing for Jharkhand Under-15s." Aaron was a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad during the last edition but didn't get a chance to play any matches.

"I felt bad as I was match-fit during the second half of the tournament and could have played in the last four matches," he said.

However, the stint with Wasim Akram during KKR days proved to be helpful. "I got some invaluable tips from Akram during my KKR days. One of the main things he taught was how to get reverse swing with a ball which is less than 20 overs old."

A product of the MRF Pace Foundation, Aaron was lucky enough to get guidance from the legendary Dennis Lillee. "The best part about being under Dennis Lillee was his method of coaching. Lillee never tries to change any bowler's natural action. If someone has side-on action, he would never force the bowler to change. May be he would suggest some corrective measures," he explained.