Sunrisers Hyderabad rope in Varun Aaron as new bowling coach ahead of IPL 2026
by Krishnendu Banerjee · Inside Sport IndiaJharkhand pacer Varun Aaron made a name for himself in commentary since retiring early 2025.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have roped in former India fast bowler Varun Aaron as their new bowling coach ahead of IPL 2026. James Franklin served as fast-bowling coach while Muttiah Muralitharan was the spin-bowling coach in IPL 2025. Franklin came on board only last season after Dale Styen called it a time on his SRH coaching career.
Varun Aaron played 52 IPL matches, bagging 44 wickets. For India, he scalped 18 Test wickets and 11 wickets in ODIs. His last stint in IPL was back in 2022 with Gujarat Titans.
Varun Aaron career stats
The pacer made his India debut in both ODI and Test formats in 2011 under captain MS Dhoni. However, a back injury curtailed his progress. Even though he returned to Indian team after a two-year absence, his return did not last long. He played his last match for India in 2015 against South Africa in Bengaluru. In IPL, he continued as a journeyman, playing for Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans.
At RCB, he spent three seasons, bagging 21 wickets. It was IPL 2014 when he proved his doubters wrong with 16 wickets. But after that season, he could not succeed. In First Class cricket, Varun Aaron bagged 173 wickets in 66 matches and 141 wickets in 88 List A matches.
| Format | Mat | Inns | Wkts | Best | Avg | Econ | SR | 4w | 5w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tests | 9 | 14 | 18 | 3/97 | 52.61 | 4.77 | 66.0 | 0 | 0 |
| ODIs | 9 | 9 | 11 | 3/24 | 38.09 | 6.61 | 34.5 | 0 | 0 |
| FC | 66 | 103 | 173 | 6/32 | 33.27 | 3.47 | 57.4 | 8 | 6 |
| List A | 88 | 87 | 141 | 6/33 | 26.47 | 5.44 | 29.1 | 5 | 4 |
| T20s | 95 | 93 | 93 | 3/16 | 29.36 | 8.53 | 20.6 | 0 | 0 |
| IPL | 52 | 50 | 44 | 3/16 | 33.65 | 8.93 | 22.5 | 0 | 0 |
SRH in IPL 2026
Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim to bounce back in IPL 2026 after a poor campaign in IPL 2025. SRH finished sixth with 13 points. While SRH made a comeback in the second half of the season, form of Travis Head, Mohammad Shami and Nitish Kumar Reddy exposed their weakness.
Pat Cummins also struggled to find form and as a result, SRH were knocked out after a washout. SRH won just six matches out of 14. With Varun Aaron coming in as the bowling coach, SRH could expect a few changes in the bowling line-up. Shami’s place could also be in jeopardy.