Venkatesh Iyer joins Lancashire for One-Day Cup, County Championship

Manchester: India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer has joined English county club Lancashire for the ongoing One-Day Cup and two rounds of the County Championship. He is expected to make his debut against Kent on July 28. Phil Salt, Iyer's teammate in Kolkata Knight Riders, recommended him to the club during their successful IPL campaign this year after he scored half-centuries against Sunrisers Hyderabad in both the qualifying round and the final.

Iyer's assignment will last for five weeks, and he is expected to return before the Duleep Trophy, India's domestic season opener, begins on September 5.

"This is a deal we have worked hard to complete. Venkatesh will add experience to a young side during the One-Day Cup while providing an explosive batting option in the middle-order and another seam bowler that we can turn to with the ball," Lancashire's Director of Cricket Mark Chilton said.

"He will also be available for our County Championship matches against Surrey and Hampshire towards the end of August and gives us another high-quality overseas option to select from," he added.

During IPL 2021, Iyer established himself as a top-order batter as KKR had an exciting run to the final. Iyer made his debut in the tournament's second half after the pandemic break, and in the months that followed, he earned his India cap in both white-ball formats.

Iyer, who has fully recovered from a series of injuries that limited his participation to just being a hitter until mid-last year, is also a useful seam-up option. "I am incredibly excited to head 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," Iyer said in a statement.

"To test my skills in both one-day and first-class cricket in English conditions is going to really benefit my game. I hope that I can entertain the fans and help my Lancashire team-mates to achieve their targets in both formats this summer.," he added.

In 32 first-class innings, Iyer has scored 1,132 runs, averaging 37.73 with one century. He has also taken 15 wickets with his right-arm medium pace. In List A cricket, he has accumulated 1458 runs in 40 innings. He has four centuries and five fifties in the 50-over format. He also played two ODIs for India in January 2022.