Venkatesh Iyer joins Lancashire for maiden county stint

India allrounder Venkatesh Iyer has joined 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.

Iyer was recommended to the club by Phil Salt, his Kolkata Knight Riders' teammate during their victorious IPL campaign this year, where he made half-centuries against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 1 and the final. Iyer's stint will be for five weeks as he is set to return ahead of India's domestic season opener, the Duleep Trophy, that kicks off on September 5.

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

"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."

Iyer made his name as a top-order batter during IPL 2021, when KKR made a stirring run to the final. Iyer, who debuted in the second half of that tournament after the pandemic break, also went on to earn his India cap across both white-ball formats in the months that followed.

In addition to being an attacking batter, Iyer offers a handy seam-up option, having fully recovered from a series of injuries that had limited his participation only as a batter until mid-last year.

"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," Iyer said in a statement. "Lancashire is a very historic county with a long history of welcoming Indian players to their Club

"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."

Iyer, a left-hand batter, has 1132 runs from 32 first-class innings, averaging 37.73 with one century. He has also taken 15 wickets with his right-arm medium pace.

In List A cricket, Iyer has scored 1458 runs in 40 innings at a strike rate 101.95. He has four centuries and five fifties in the 50-over format. He also played two ODIs for India in January 2022.