Varun Aaron Reveals How MRF Pace Foundation's Ex-Director Dennis Lillee Carved A Test Cricketer Out Of Him

In a country where there is no real culture of “fast” bowling, Varun Aaron burst onto the scene as a genuine speedster who could bowl quick. While there were a few bowlers who had managed to capture the attention and imagination of a cricket-crazy nation like India with their sheer pace before Aaron, none perhaps managed to get their speed to do the talking as consistently as Aaron. The first speedster from Jharkhand, considered to be part of the country’s cricketing backwaters, to have gone on to play Test cricket for India, Aaron bid adieu to first-class cricket following his team’s campaign in the Ranji Trophy this year.

“I am really proud that I could play Test cricket for India from Jharkhand more than anything else. It’s easier to play to get wickets and play at a higher level when you are playing in states where the conditions favour you (fast bowlers) a little bit. But to be an out-and-out fast bowler and to play on dead wickets where you don’t get bounce above your knee is tough,” Aaron told ABP Live.

Despite being one of the earliest synonym for speed, Aaron said that perhaps the greatest story that he would be telling his grandchildren long after he has hung up his cricketing boots would be one of his heroics with the bat.

“When we went to the final (Vijay Hazare 2010-11), I am like I’m going to win this. I scored like 36 off 16 balls. I fought with the coach and went out to bat because our batters were not batting well (strike rate),” Aaron said.

“We were hardly reaching any score so I told my coach boss I don’t care I’m moving all right but so the coach was like, he wasn’t much of a coach to be honest he was just like somebody to stop-gap. Then our secretary was watching the game and he was like he told the coach, no you go to bat,” the 34-year-old stated.

“I went and like that was the best feeling of my life you know because I mean if we hadn’t scored, me and a guy called SP Gautam we had put on a 70-80 run partnership (51 off 23 balls) in a very short time, we might not have won the game because, if not for that partnership, we were looking at a target of 180-190 which would have been meaningless because the match was being played in Indore (known for big scores).”

Dennis Lillee The Biggest Influence In My Career

On his primary skills, Aaron heaped praises on Dennis Lillee revealing how the Australian fast bowling legend and the MRF Pace Academy and Foundation have had a massive influence on his career.

“The MRF Pace Foundation has played a huge role in my career and I would say Dennis Lillee has played the biggest role because just for example I got selected to the Pace Foundation when I was 14 years old you know and generally you don’t get picked at that young. I would say Dennis Lilly and MRF stuck with me for five years and that’s when I played for the country to be honest I’m the last Test Cricketer fast Bowler from MRF who was a full-time trainee.

varun aaron reveals how mrf pace foundation's ex-director dennis lillee carved a test cricketer out of him
(Image: Dennis Lillee served as the founding director of MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai from its inception in 1987 to 2012 and is credited for training and mentoring several Indian fast bowlers.)

“Dennis Lillee is definitely the biggest influence in my career. Spending time with him growing up with him, I think growing up literally mean growing up because I was 14 to 18 when I was with him.

“We are still in touch and like the work ethic he has ingrained in me, his beliefs are my beliefs and yeah he’s just a great guy like I mean you don’t get those kinds of human beings on earth anymore I would definitely say that he’s a great guy. He’s a guy who walks the talk he’s done it. He only tells you things to do that he has done. He will never tell you something he hasn’t done. He tells you you are s**t, if you are bad. If you’re good, he’ll just give you a pat on the back he always expects a lot from you.

“Deep down he’s actually a very like very caring individual you know apart from the bravado and the Dennis Lillee aura. He’s actually a very caring guy and he cares for all his students all the all the guys he coaches so yeah I mean Dennis Lilly and MRF have been a huge factor,” he said.

(This is the second of a three-part exclusive conversation with Varun Aaron. In the first installment, we saw the pacer recall the first time he breached the 145-Kmph Mark, in the next, we will see what the Jamshdpur-born pacer learnt from MS Dhoni despite being his captain in Jharkhand’s Vijay Hazare campaign. Stay tuned for the upcoming installments, exclusively on ABP Live’s Sports Page.)

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