India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer has signed up with Lancashire to make himself available for the one-day cup tournament and a couple of rounds in the County Championship. The left-hander is likely to mark his first appearance against Kent on July 28th in Blackpool.
The seam-bowling all-rounder played an integral role in KKR's 3rd IPL title victory this year when they beat the SunRisers Hyderabad in the final. The southpaw struck 370 runs in 14 matches, averaging 46.25 alongside a strike rate of 158.80. The 29-year-old smacked a whirlwind 51 in Qualifier 1 against the SunRisers and played an equally dominant knock of 52 in the final against the same opposition.
Addressing the recruit, Lancashire's director of cricket Mark Chilton stated that Venkatesh is a valuable addition in the middle-order and acts as an extra seam-bowling option for them. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, Chilton stated:
"This is a deal we have worked hard to complete. 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."
"Incredibly excited to head over to England" - Venkatesh Iyer
Venkatesh claimed that the opportunity to test his red-ball and white-ball skills in England is a massive opportunity and is looking forward to it. He stated:
"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. To test my skills in both one-day and first-class cricket in English conditions is going to really benefit my game
