Indian pacer Varun Aaron has made a little step towards national comeback by starting off the domestic season on a solid note in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018-19.

Despite not playing for India since 2015, Aaron has never given up on playing for his country again, saying he has a long journey to go and wants to be one of India's fast bowlers to remember.

Playing for Jharkhand, Aaron picked up 18 wickets from eight matches to be fourth in the wicket-takers list in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. His brilliant form helped Jharkhand to make it to the semi-final but failed to cross the line to Delhi for the summit clash against Mumbai on Saturday (October 20) in Bangalore.

On the back of his stunning show in the tournament, Aaron has earned a call for the upcoming Deodhar Trophy 2018-19, has been named in the India B squad for the tournament starting from October 23.

The tournament is a golden opportunity for the seamer to catch eyes of the national selectors after having a brilliant outing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2018-19.

Aaron, who was one of the favored pace options for India in Virat Kohli’s early days as captain, has been out of national contention with a string of injuries and India have already developed a strong pace unit, which made things difficult for the pacer to broke it into the national squad.

A raw pacer, Aaron, has had seven stress fractures to his back, and later a bruised heel, but things got even worse when he went unsold in the IPL 2018 auction, saying it was the best thing that happened to him as it helped him in developing himself.

However, he moved on from the setback, as the pacer signed up by Leicestershire for county cricket with where he played three first-class matches for nine wickets and six one-dayers to develop himself and his skill-set in a bid to get better of him.

Aaron told Cricketnext, “It's been a very nice journey. Ever since I was out of IPL, I've enjoyed my cricket. There has just been time to introspect and find more things which work for me. Not playing the IPL just gave me that much more time to think about myself instead of thinking about what's ahead of me, and what I have to do, how I have to get back into the team and this and that, which is something that's usually on your mind. That just clouds a lot of thoughts which could be really good for your self-development. Not playing the IPL was a massive blessing in disguise.”

He further went on to explain, “I truly believe that was the best thing that happened. For a fast bowler, a cricket journey will be 15-20 years. This was just one small blimp which wouldn't matter if I achieve my potential and have a killer six-seven years.”

On County sign up, he added, “Going to county was more about developing myself and my skill-set, getting to know myself better. Because I hadn't had a long run of cricket in a long time with injuries and stuff in the past when I played for India. On the contrary, this time I had the time with me, and I'm enjoying my bowling. Basically it was just mental cures which work more than anything else. The season was good. Sadly I wasn't there for the whole season but I did whatever I could do best in the time I was there. The win over Glamorgan was massive for the club and contributing to that was a special feeling. When an English club wins a game after 19 games, it's basically winning a game after an entire season. In the one-dayers I was bowling really quickly. It was a brilliant experience for two months in England by myself, learning a lot about my body. It's holding me to real good stead at the moment.”

On call-up for the Deodhar Trophy, he said, “After being nowhere in the past season and a half to getting picked... it wasn't like I didn't have wickets in the one-dayers last year, but I wasn't given a look in. This year I wanted to make a really good case for myself. I've been fortunate and worked really hard to be among the top 5 wicket takers in India. Getting a place in the Deodhar Trophy was something I really wanted. I wanted those extra opportunities to prove myself and get back into the (Indian) team at the end of the day.”

Aaron signed off by saying, “I feel I have a long journey to go. I have a real belief in myself. That's why I'm still playing the game. I don't want to slog on till 35 just playing Ranji Trophy. I want to win games for India. I want to be one of India's fast bowlers to remember.”

(Input: News18)