Varun Aaron wants to make the most of opportunities

Varun Aaron (L) will be looking to repay the faith Virat Kohli (R) has placed in him

Indian speedster Varun Aaron is determined to make the most of the opportunities he gets in the national team setup. Aaron was speaking to PTI ahead of the India-South Africa Test series beginning on Thursday.

Aaron also hopes to repay the faith that Indian Test captain Virat Kohli has in him considering he gets a chance to play in the Test series. Kohli has a preference for bowlers who can bowl at high speeds than the ones who can only rely on line and length.

The 26-year-old bowler hopes to continue bowling pace, but with more consistency, something that he has been lacking since he made his international debut four years ago.

Although he has been overlooked for the limited-overs formats quite often, Aaron is not worried about that and wants to do well with all the chances he gets.

“It is something that is not in my control. My aim is to make the most of whatever matches I get. There is no format that I prefer. As long as I am playing I am happy,” Aaron said.

“Yeah, it is always nice to have the captain's support. But it is not only me, Virat has confidence in every member of the squad. It always feels good when the captain backs you and I hope I get an opportunity to repay his confidence against South Africa,” he continued.

Ishant Sharma's absence in the first Test is a big loss to the Indian squad. This could mean a possible opportunity for Aaron to make the playing XI for the Mohali Test. Mohali has traditionally assisted pace bowling and Aaron's pace could come into good effect in the first few days of the match.

Aaron has been dealing with injuries and inconsistent performances throughout his international career. For a player with more than four years of experience, it is surprising that Aaron has featured in only seven Tests and nine ODIs.

The Jharkhand bowler's economy rate is one of the things that he will have been working in his time away from international cricket. His Test economy rate is just under five runs per over, which is quite concerning for a frontline bowler.

But, Aaron believes that he has learned to be more consistent in the recent past. He also feels that because he has been injury-free for a while now it will help him to perform to his very best in the upcoming Test series.

“The focus is on getting the basics right than putting the focus on who I am going to bowl to. If I do what is in my control right, I know I would deliver for the team. Consistency is important in international cricket and that is something I have been working on constantly,” Aaron said.