On Friday, February 16, Indian player Varun Aaron announced his retirement from red ball cricket. The 34-year-old, who is currently playing in the Ranji Trophy match between Jharkhand and Rajasthan, stated that this would be his final First-Class game.
Aaron, who made his First-Class debut in 2008, has 168 wickets in 65 matches for a strike rate of 33.74, including six five-wicket hauls. Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Ranji Trophy encounter, the Jamshedpur-born cricketer revealed that his body will not enable him to continue bowling fast in the red-ball format.
“I have been playing red-ball cricket since 2008. Since I bowled fast, I picked up a number of injuries. I understand now that my body won’t allow me to continue bowling fast in red-ball cricket, so I have decided to quit,” Varun Aaron told ESPNcricinfo.
“This might be my last game in front of my family and the people of Jamshedpur, because we don’t often play white-ball games here (Keenan Stadium). I had started my career here, so this is quite emotional for me,” he further added.
While announcing the end of his red-ball cricket career, the 34-year-old revealed his future ambitions. He revealed that he will join the MRF Pace Foundation to manage a project aimed at assisting fast bowlers around the country.
“I am part of a project called ‘Pace bowler talent hunt’ at MRF. We will be working with young fast bowlers from around India. Approximately 1500 bowlers have taken part in this. We are travelling around the country looking for talent and 20 boys will be chosen for further training. I am also working at the high-performance centre at MRF. I hope to give India their next fast bowler from these programmes,” he concluded.
