After the current Ranji Trophy season, Varun Aaron will call time on his red ball career

"My body won't allow me to continue bowling fast in red-ball cricket, so I have decided to quit"

Varun Aaron has announced that he will retire from red-ball cricket after Jharkhand's ongoing Ranji Trophy fixture against Rajasthan. The 34-year-old will continue to play white-ball cricket for the time being and will decide on his future in those formats ahead of the next domestic season. Jharkhand, who are out of the running for a spot in the quarter-finals, will play their final game of the Ranji season.

Aaron, one of India's fastest bowlers in his prime, told ESPNcricinfo that he has been playing red-ball cricket since 2008.  Due to numerous injuries caused by his fast bowling, he has decided to retire from red-ball cricket.

He stated that this might be his last game in front of his family and the people of Jamshedpur, as white-ball games are not often played at Keenan Stadium. He began his career here.

He made his first-class debut in 2008 in a Ranji Trophy Plate League match against Jammu and Kashmir at home in Ranchi. He took two wickets in each innings. His pace caught the attention of the selectors and he soon made his international debut. He played in an ODI against England at the Wankhede Stadium in 2011. He made his Test debut against West Indies at the same venue a month later.

In his India career that ended in 2015, he played nine Tests and nine ODIs, taking 18 wickets at 52.61 and 11 wickets at 38.09, respectively. Aaron was plagued by injuries, including stress fractures in his back and legs, which periodically put him out of action. He played a total of 65 first-class games and took 168 wickets at 33.74.

Internationally, Varun Aaron is perhaps best remembered for the bouncer he bowled to Stuart Broad in the Old Trafford Test in 2014, which snuck through the grille of Broad's helmet and fractured his nose. Shortly after that, Aaron was given the opportunity to play for Durham in the English county cricket circuit.

Aaron, a product of the MRF Pace Foundation, will return there to lead a project that scouts for fast bowlers across the country and trains them.

He is part of a project called 'Pace Bowler Talent Hunt' at MRF, which has already seen around 1500 bowlers participate. The project aims to identify young fast bowlers from around India and provide them with further training.  After travelling around the country to find talent, 20 boys will be selected for further training. Aaron is currently working at the high-performance centre at MRF with the aim of producing India's next fast bowler through these programmes.