Varun Aaron

Hailing from Jharkhand, Varun Aaron is a right-arm fast bowler who possesses a smooth run-up and consistently bowls in excess of 140km/h. He currently plays for Jharkhand in the domestic circuit. Aaron was a part of the MRF pace foundation and was first spotted by a talent scout at the age of 15. He idolizes the West Indian legend Andy Roberts. Aaron has been frequently plagued with injuries over the years. He suffered two stress fractures of his back just before the 2008 Ranji Trophy, and also suffered back injury that kept him out of the Indian side for the 2011 Australian tour. 

Indian selectors were desperately looking for a genuine quick fast bowler and they found their answer in Varun Aaron. He was a part of India’s emerging players squad in 2011 and then earned a call-up in India’s ODI squad to face England in the very same year. He did not feature in any of the ODI matches, but finally got a chance to make his ODI debut against the same opposition in the home series in October 2011.

He impressed everyone with his pace and had match figures of 3 for 24 as India went onto win that ODI match. Following his impressive display against the Three Lions, Aaron was selected in the Test squad to face the Windies. He scalped 3 wickets on a flat Mumbai track and it genuinely looked as if India had found a genuine quick bowler who can terrorize the opposition with pace.

The next two years, he was in and out of the Indian team mainly due to injuries. The pacer returned to the national side again in 2014 for India’s tour of New Zealand. His raw pace during India’s tour of England in 2014 caught the eye of the county teams there, and Durham signed him for the final few weeks of their domestic season. Inconsistency has been a major issue with Varun Aaron and even in the IPL he has not been able to do justice to his talent. He has represented Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders without being a regular for any of the sides.

In 2019, he was purchased by the Rajasthan Royals, and he played 5 matches and only took 4 wickets at an average of 29.00. The pacer played 3 matches and went wicketless in the whole tournament. Aaron is considered one of the fastest bowlers in the country. He can clock more than 145 km/h and has a genuine pacer to rattle the stumps. Injuries have been his biggest enemy so far, and if he can stay injury free, he can be back in the reckoning for an Indian spot.

(As of March 2021)