IPL 2019: Varun Aaron credits county stint for improvement

Kolkata, April 26: Rajasthan Royals pacer Varun Aaron credited his county stint for his improvement as a bowler, following the team's three-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

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In an excellent new-ball spell of 3-1-10-2, Aaron removed both the Kolkata Knight Riders openers - Chris Lynn (0) and Shubman Gill (14) - with inswinging deliveries on Thursday (April 25).

"I've always bowled inswing but it's coming off a lot better after my county stint," said Aaron, who was not bought by any team for IPL 2018 and went on to play county cricket with Leicestershire.

Varun Aaron is adjudged the Man of the Match for his bowling figures of 2/20 😎😎 pic.twitter.com/3m9fxqjPCZ

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 25, 2019

Aaron took full advantage of the Eden greentop and delivered a beauty to clean up Gill with a knuckle-ball that sharply cut back in.

"I used to rely on my outswing a lot before. But last year when I was not playing the IPL, I played county cricket and did work on my inswing which is really handy because on wickets like these you can't get give much of room. So there's no point bowling outswing at my pace," the 29-year-old said.

KKR vs RR - As it happened

Aaron said he would be returning to county cricket.

"I'm looking forward to going and playing in county cricket after the IPL because I've some time. I really enjoyed my time last year. 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 and their fitness and form."

The Helicopter shot, knuckle inswinger story ft. Aaron & Riyan@VarunAaron and Riyan Parag talk about some quirky additions to their own game that helped @rajasthanroyals to a last over win in Kolkata! By @28anand. #KKRvRR

WATCH the video 📹 - https://t.co/CSykvWdEPN pic.twitter.com/X3lZiZHMhn

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 26, 2019

All-praise for the Eden wicket, Aaron said it was a very good cricketing surface.

"The wicket definitely had something for everybody, not just me. I was looking forward to bowling here because it had more bounce than the other wickets we played on.

"Since we won the toss and chose to bowl, we knew there would be a little seam movement up front. I always love bowling at Eden and it is one of my favourite places to bowl and it has a value-for-shot outfield."

This was his only second appearance for Rajasthan Royals this season and the pacer said: "It was more of a team combination thing and management's decision. There was no injury concern at all."

Chasing 176, Royals had lost their top top four batsmen including that of Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith and Ben Stokes in 10.1 overs but Aaron said they never gave up.

"At no point we thought that the game's lost as the Eden has such a fast outfield. You get so much value for your shots. We were just like three or four hits away and it came off well," he said.