A Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star has signed a deal with Lancashire to feature in their One-Day and red-ball cricket this County season.
A Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star has signed a deal with Lancashire to feature in their One-Day and red-ball cricket this County season. Previously, four other Indian players had played for this county, and the KKR star finds himself in an elite list of Indian cricketers.
Venkatesh Iyer has joined Lancashire County Cricket Club to play in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup and two rounds of the Vitality County Championship later next month. He expressed his excitement about his county gig, saying Lancashire is a historic county.
“I am incredibly excited about heading over to England and to have the opportunity to play county cricket for the first time in my career. Lancashire is a very historic county with a long history of welcoming Indian players to their club. I am looking forward to emulating the likes of Farokh Engineer, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, and most recently, Washington Sundar in wearing the Red Rose colours at Emirates Old Trafford.”
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It will be Iyer’s first county gig in English home summer. He will look to make the most of it and learn as many things as possible.
Venkatesh Iyer’s contract is not full-fledged, for he will feature in selected games for Lancashire across two formats. He will return home in time to prepare and feature in the Duleep Trophy, starting 5 September 2024.
Iyer has plans to return to India’s white-ball squads, which means he will have to showcase his skills in the domestic circuit with both bat and ball. If he impresses and remains consistent, Iyer will get a re-look from the selectors, who don’t have him on the radar as of now.
The Indian white-ball side has an established all-rounder in Hardik Pandya, whereas they have also shown indications of the future. Shivam Dube has been with the side consistently, while Nitish Kumar Reddy has also been in plans after a terrific IPL, which has made Iyer’s road arduous.
The competition for all-rounders is intense. Venkatesh Iyer will look to hone his skills with Lancashire and perform across domestic formats to come into consideration again since he didn’t bowl much in the IPL, which moved him below in the pecking order.
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