Venkatesh Iyer Joins Lancashire for One-Day Cup 2024 and County Championship, KKR Star To Return to India Before Duleep Trophy
The left-hander had a decent time in the Indian Premier League earlier this year where he aced the role of an effective middle-order batter, scoring 370 runs in 15 appearances. Venkatesh Iyer scored fifties in Qualifier 1 as well as the final, which KKR won quite convincingly.
Venkatesh Iyer is set to have his maiden stint in County Cricket as he joins Lancashire. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder will feature for Lancashire in the One-Day Cup and also two rounds of the County Championship before returning to India in time for the Duleep Trophy 2024-25. Iyer was in scintillating form in KKR's Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 winning campaign, scoring 370 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of 158.79. He scored half-centuries in both of KKR's knockout matches, including the final, propelling the Shreyas Iyer-led outfit to a third Indian Premier League title. Ajinkya Rahane Hits 71 on Debut for Leicestershire in One-Day Cup 2024 Match Against Nottinghamshire.
Iyer's announcement as a Lancashire player was made by the county side. Getting the southpaw on board was hard work, revealed Mark Chilton, the Director of Cricket of Lancashire. "This is a deal we have worked hard to complete," Chilton said, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo. He added, "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." Venkatesh Iyer Ties the Knot With Fiancee Shruti Raghunathan Days After KKR’s IPL 2024 Title Win, Marriage Pics Go Viral.
The Madhya Pradesh cricketer, too, was pretty excited at the opportunity to play county cricket for the first time in his career. "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. 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," a statement quoted the cricketer.
After a breakthrough IPL 2021, Iyer earned a national team call-up and featured in two ODIs and nine T20Is, scoring 24 and 133 runs, respectively. The 29-year-old will hope to have a good time in county cricket before he returns to India to play in the Duleep Trophy, as he aims to comeback to the Indian cricket team.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2024 05:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).