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“Picture abhi baaki hain,” says Biju Nair. The former Services team coach has watched Aaron George from close quarters and, on a sun-drenched Wednesday afternoon in Harare, he saw another important chapter being written. India were chasing 311 in the U-19 World Cup semifinal on the back of twin hundreds from Afghanistan’s Faisal Shinozada and Uzairullah Niazal. By the time Aaron walked back with 115 off 104 balls, India were through to their 10th U-19 World Cup final. They now await England in the summit clash. This was the highest chase at the showpiece event, completed with nearly nine overs to spare.
“He should have finished the game off today,” Biju tells TOI. “Very calm head on his shoulders. He anchored the innings to a nicety.” Around him, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre played their IPL-styled cameos, but it was Aaron who gave the chase its spine. Sooryavanshi slammed a 33-ball 68, while India captain Ayush Mhatre, who walked in at No. 3, scored a stylish 59-ball 62. Together, they helped India ace a tricky chase. “Aaron can play all kinds of innings,” Biju says. “He can match Vaibhav’s blitz or conjure the back-to-the-wall rearguard in the final innings of a Test match.” It hasn’t been easy. Aaron had been getting starts but was not converting them. After sitting out the first two games of this tournament due to an elbow injury, he registered scores of 7, 23 and 16. “Before this game, I made it a point to keep his morale up,” he adds. Aaron’s response was emphatic: a century of poise built on precision rather than power. Back home in Hyderabad, one man could barely contain himself. “Did you see that straight six he hit?” Aaron’s father, Easo Varghese, asks. “That was the shot of the game for me. His knock could not have come at a more opportune moment.” Raised in Hyderabad with roots in Kerala — Easo hails from Mavelikara, mother Preeti from Kottayam — the foundations were laid early. A former Hyderabad police sub-inspector, Easo recalls spotting something special when Aaron was just four. “At my in-laws’ place, he picked up a plastic bat and played straight. No slogging. That’s when I knew his talent.” In a tense World Cup semifinal, that straight bat told its own compelling tale. As Biju reminds us, there’s plenty more to come from Aaron.
