Varun Aaron Or Umesh Yadav?

As India gear up for the 3 match test series against West Indies starting 6 November at Delhi, the Indian team looks more or less set with no major choices to make in the batting order. But in the bowling attack, there is a dilemma. Most probably India with go with 4 bowlers. And since there are 3 pace bowlers and 3 spinners in the squad, thus India would most probably go with 2 spinners and 2 pacers. the 2 spinners would likely be Ashwin and Ojha. It is highly unlikely that uncapped Rahul Sharma would be given the nod ahead of Ojha. While among the 2 pace bowlers, Ishant Sharma's place is set considering his experience and decent performance in the West Indies. So that leaves the team management with the dilemma. Who to play- Umesh Yadav or Varun Aaron? Both are fast bowlers and can clock speeds of 140 kmph and above regularly.

Umesh Yadav- Umesh Yadav has played only 6 matches so far in his career and that too all one dayers. He has taken 5 wickets at an average of 56.4 with a 54.4 strike rate. His best was 2/32 against England. His economy rate is 6.22. He played in the first 3 matches of India's home series against England recently and dropped thereafter. Since the international career does n't have much to show thus we move onto his domestic performance. He plays for Vidarbha in the Ranji.  In 20 first class matches he has taken 69 wickets at an average of 25.91 with strike rate of 49.1. His best performance was 7/74 in an innings and has 4 5-wicket hauls and 2 4-wicket hauls. There is no doubt that Umesh Yadav has speed but his performance against England was not up to the mark. He was found lacking in line and length and had less variation. But his speed can be a great asset and if he improves his game, he has the potential to be India's "real" fast bowler.

Varun Aaron- Varun Aaron's international career is very short, infact shorter than even Yadav's. He has played only 2 ODI's in his career, that too all against England. He has taken 4 wickets at an average of 10.75 with a 13.7 strike rate and an economy rate of 4.69. His best was 3/24. He played in the last 2 matches of India's home ODI series against England. Moving on to his domestic career, he plays for Delhi in the Ranji. He has played 12 first class matches and has taken 26 wickets at an average of 41 with a 77.2 strike rate. His best is 5/17 in an innings with only a single 5 wicket haul to show. Varun Aaron too has speed and his performance against England in the 2 matches was pretty good. Out of the 4 wickets he has taken , 3 were bowled off quick yorkers which was a very refreshing and rare sight to see especially with Indian bowlers. In his short career, he has shown potential. But his performance in the domestic circuit has been sultry. And he has also been pretty expensive in the IPL.

So who should be picked in the team for the first test? Well considering the short international career Varun  Aaron has been better than Umesh Yadav but the domestic performance sees a reversal with Yadav better then Aaron. But I would still go with Varon Aaron simply because his recent INTERNATIONAL performance was better than Yadav and he bowls yorkers and can variate his line and length more than Yadav. Both are fast bowlers with high speeds but for the first test i think Aaron should be given the chance. If he performs badly, then in the 3rd test Umesh Yadav can be given a chance too. The decision is with the team management. Lets see who they pick...