‘Slightly unfulfilled potential’- Aakash Chopra reflects on Varun Aaron’s retirement

On January 10, Varun Aaron announced his retirement from international cricket. The pacer played nine Test matches and an equal number of ODIs for India before his career ended. His final appearance for India was in the 2015 Test series against South Africa in Bengaluru, when he took 29 wickets in both formats. In the domestic record, the pacer has since been spotted playing for Jharkhand.

When Varun bowled 153 kph against Gujarat in the 2010–11 Vijay Hazare Trophy final, he stole the show. At that time, he was perceived as the pacemaker with the fastest pace. However, following 2015, the bowler’s brief tenure with the Indian team was unable to secure a second innings. Following his retirement, a former cricket player and analyst for India bemoaned the right-arm pacer’s “slightly unfulfilled potential.”

“Varun Aaron has declared his intention to retire.

He quit red-ball cricket initially, and now he has quit cricket completely. “That’s it, I’m done,” he said. He bowled quickly in the past. Varun Aaron was quick, and he had speed. He made his debut in Adelaide, if my memory serves me well, because Virat Kohli was a big fan of fast bowlers at the time,” Chopra posted on his YouTube channel.

“When he made his debut, the poor guy took a lot of blows, and I asked him where he had been imprisoned. But after that, he was unable to play much cricket. He was good, in my opinion. From Varun’s perspective, it has a little unrealised promise. “He was an excellent cricket player,” he continued.

Regarding his first-class career, the 35-year-old took 165 wickets with a strike rate of 34.5 and an average of 33.27 in 57 games for Jharkhand. He played for the Gujrat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Kings XI Punjab (now the Punjab Kings) before making his IPL debut in 2011 with the Delhi Daredevils (now the Delhi Capitals).