Former India quick Varun Aaron retires from all representative cricket

Varun Aaron, the former India quick bowler, has announced his retirement from “representative cricket”. Aaron, 35, had retired from red-ball cricket at the end of the 2023-24 Indian domestic season, and has now finished up altogether after his team, Jharkhand, were knocked out of the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, in which he played four games and picked up three wickets at an average of 53.33.

“For the past 20 years, I have lived, breathed, and thrived on the rush of bowling fast. Today, with immense gratitude, I officially announce my retirement from representative cricket,” Aaron wrote on his Instagram page. “As I bid farewell to a pursuit that has consumed me completely, I now look forward to savoring the smaller joys in life while staying deeply connected to the game that has given me everything. Fast Bowling has been my first love, and though I step off the field, it will always be a part of who I am.”

Aaron burst on to the scene as a genuine tearaway during the 2010-11 Vijay Hazare Trophy, when he was 21, by clocking speeds upwards of 150kph. But bowling fast came with its pitfalls, and in a career blighted by injuries – stress fractures of the back, in the main – Aaron played nine Tests and nine ODIs, but the last of those was way back in November 2015, a Test against South Africa in Bengaluru, where he picked up one wicket in a match that lost four days to the weather.

“Over the years, I’ve had to push both my physical and mental limits to recover from numerous career-threatening injuries, having to come back time and again”

Varun Aaron

“Over the years, I’ve had to push both my physical and mental limits to recover from numerous career-threatening injuries, having to comeback time and again, this was only possible thanks to the relentless dedication of the physios, trainers, and coaches at the National Cricket Academy,” Aaron wrote.

He finishes up with 88 List A matches, in which he got 141 wickets at an average of 26.47 and economy rate of 5.44, and 95 T20s, where he has 93 wickets at an economy rate of 8.53.

Aaron played nine seasons of the IPL between 2011 and 2022 – with Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans – and won the title with Titans in what was his final season in the competition. His own contribution in it was, however, modest, as he picked up two wickets in two games, and had an economy rate of 10.40.

A product of the MRF Pace Academy, has worked with the organisation since the middle of 2024, and has also worked as a cricket pundit, including with ESPNcricinfo.