File image of Varun Aaron
Fast bowler Varun Aaron first grabbed eyeballs with his express pace when he clocked 153 kph during the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy final. It didn't take long to make his India debut. Aaron, who belongs from Jharkhand, made his ODI debut in October 2011 against England. A Test debut followed a month later against West Indies.
In a quick span of time, Aaron was being dubbed as India's future fast bowling superstar. However, destiny had different things in store for him. Frequent injuries marred a promising international career and Aaron was soon relegated to the sidelines.
He featured in just 9 Tests and 9 ODIs, and last played for India in November 2015. The injuries did rock his career but couldn't stall the progress of the 28-year-old pacer who kept himself in the reckoning by playing in the Indian Premier League.
From 2014 to 2016, he was a regular feature in the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad and was one of the fastest bowlers in the league. In 2017, Aaron had a good season for Kings XI Punjab.
But Aaron was in for a shock when he went unsold at the 2018 IPL players auction.
However, Aaron took in his stride the shock of not getting picked in the IPL auctions and was even more destined to prove his merit.
Aaron soon left for County cricket and joined Leicestershire. He soon gained reckoning when he played a pivotal role in taking Leicestershire to victory over Glamorgan in a County Championship Division Two match. Aaron took 6 wickets for 131 runs. In the three matches he has played so far, Aaron has taken 9 wickets at an average of 39.88.
In an exclusive chat with IndiaTV, Aaron said it is the motivation of playing for India again which keeps him going.
"I am looking to play for India in near future and that's what keeps me going, that's what gives me the motivation every day in the morning to wake up and to put in those yards. I am sure it will come in my way," Aaron told IndiaTV.
Aaron credits the hard work he has put in before going to England as the reason behind his success in County.
"The reason behind my success in County cricket definitely would be because of the hard work I've put in before coming here with my coach SS Rao and Subroto Banerjee. I also worked with a great trainer and a really good physio Sudarshan, who use to work with the Indian team and Ranga, who is with Karnataka.
"I had a really good camp of 20-25 days with these guys working on things I would need to do here. After getting here, assessing the conditions and changing my game accordingly like bowling more inswingers because it's just the way the conditions are here and the batsmen play here... these are reasons for me doing well so far," he said.
Commenting on the English conditions, Aaron said: "The conditions here are a lot different to India, the pace, the bounce, the overhead conditions. So, I've been bowling a lot fuller than I would be doing in India."
Aaron also gave an insight into his fitness schedule.
"My training schedule always comprises of a lot of fitness... day in and day out I put in a lot of work on my body to help me bowling fast. Of late I've been bowling a lot then I would have before, which has been really helping me. Also, I try and keep a really healthy diet to take me through my rigorous schedule," he said.
