IPL 2019 | Varun Aaron accredits county stint after match-winning performance against Kolkata Knight Riders

04/26/2019

Varun Aaron has given a lot of credit to his county stint with Leicestershire after the Man of the Match performance against Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday. Aaron scalped two wickets for 20 runs in his four overs to dismantle the KKR top-order and steer Rajasthan Royals to the driver’s seat.

Varun Aaron brims with express pace but his erratic line and length never let him achieve fruitful dividends. However, he defied all the odds in the encounter against KKR on Thursday night and produced a match-winning spell to keep things tight with the ball.

Aaron has credited his enhancement as a bowler to his county stint where he featured for Leicestershire. Aaron’s first game this season wasn’t an impactful one as he leaked too many runs in the only over that he bowled. But the lanky bowler made an impactful return against KKR where he accounted for two key wickets with inswinging deliveries.

“I used to rely on my outswing deliveries a lot before. But last year when I was not playing the IPL, I played county cricket and worked on my inswing which is really handy because on wickets like this you can’t get much of room,” Aaron told reporters at the post-match press conference, reported IANS.

Aaron had inswinging deliveries in his armoury but feels that they are coming out well after the county stint. “I’ve always bowled inswinging deliveries but they are coming off a lot better after my county stint,” he said.

Aaron went unsold in the 2018 IPL auctions but utilised his time to enhance his bowling skills by playing county cricket for Leicestershire. County cricket has helped a lot of Indian cricketers to do well, in recent past, players like Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma have also played county cricket. Aaron is looking forward to another county stint once the IPL is over.

“I’m looking forward to going and playing in county cricket after the IPL because I have some time. I really enjoyed my time last year and I’m looking forward to another stint with a county side. I don’t really know which team will need a fast bowler since I’m going to join mid-season. It all depends on availability of the current players or fitness and form and stuff like that," explained the Jharkhand pacer.