One of the fastest bowlers India has produced, Jharkhand’s Varun Aaron has termed former India captain Rahul Dravid as the toughest batsman he has ever bowled to.
“I would say Rahul Dravid is the toughest batsman I’ve ever bowled to. Every time I turned up to bowl to him in the nets, it felt like I was just bowling at 120kph. It’s just something that he does to you,” Aaron said during a Royals Podcast on Facebook with Kiwi spinner and Royals’ spin consultant Ish Sodhi.
“I have never bowled to a batsman who would lunge out to the max and play you as if you’ve just bowled a throw down to him. As a bowler that’s extremely irritating to bowl to somebody like him,” said the 30-year old, who had played 9 ODIs and 9 Tests for India.
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Aaron had made his Test debut in 2011 against the West Indies and mentioned that it was surreal to be part of a team bus full of legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, and Virender Sehwag.
“I think getting the Test cap for India is the highlight for any cricketer. No matter what one does after that, it is the highest point of his career. If you ask any of the greats, they will all say the highlight for them was getting the Test cap for India. I feel there’s nothing better than that and that’s for everyone. I received my Test cap from Laxman. I was lucky enough to play with the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Viru back then, I mean it was surreal,” Aaron recalled.
Aaron also talked about hitting Stuart Broad on his eye during a Test match in 2014 at old Trafford.
“The ball before I hit Stuart Broad, he actually kind of top-edged it for a six. As a bowler, you never want to be hit for a six, especially by a lower-order batsman. So next ball I went over the wicket and decided to just let it rip and I absolutely gave everything I had on that ball. It hit him on his helmet, and initially, I realized that I couldn’t see the ball, and I was like “Oh no!” the ball was stuck in his helmet,” Aaron says.
(IANS inputs)
