Venkatesh Iyer, a versatile Indian cricketer, has been rewarded with a Lancashire deal, one of the leading clubs in English counties. He will participate in the One-Day Cup tournament and also play two matches of County Championship.
Kent is the team that would face Lancashire on 28th July for his first appearance. Salt who played with him during ‘Kolkata Knight Riders’ successful IPL campaign earlier this year was responsible for getting him into Lancashire.
Salt came up with Iyer’s name after he had an outstanding performance which included half-centuries against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the qualifying round and in the finals.
Iyer will be associate with Lancashire in his ‘five weeks’ stay. He has to go back home to India before September 5 when Duleep Trophy starts; marking start of domestic cricket season in India.
“Venkatesh will provide us with batting option as well as experience from a senior player during One-Day Cup and another seam bowling we can call upon at any time,” said Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s Director of Cricket, according to IANS.
Lancashire’s Director of Cricket was quote saying: “Also when we play our County Championship games against Surrey and Hampshire towards the end of August, he is going to be available as yet another excellent overseas option.”
During this year’s edition of Indian Premier League (IPL), Iyer proved himself a top-tier top order batsman by being instrumental in Kolkata Knight Riders run into championship finale. After resumption from COVID-19 pause; Iyer made his first appearance for KKR bowing down on field skills.
The performances that Iyer displayed during IPL were so impressive that they boosted his career to even greater heights where he was select to represent India both limited overs formats. It was because of his consistent hard-hitting displays that won him a deserved national place thereby marking a great milestone in his life.
Several injuries to his body had restricted Iyer to batting only until the middle of last year. Presently, he is also a valuable option for bowling in the seam.
“This will be my first time playing county cricket and I could not be more excited about going over to England. Lancashire is a very historic county with a long history of welcoming Indian players to their Club,” Iyer said in a statement.
“I am looking forward to testing myself in English conditions which can be challenging especially when it comes to one-day or long-form cricket. This summer, I want to entertain the fans and help my teammates achieve our goals,” he added.
In first-class cricket, Iyer has shown his class with 32 innings played and runs earned. He averages an impressive 37.73 with one century as a highlight. Furthermore, he has bowled right-arm medium pace capturing 15 wickets – not bad for a batsman!
Venkatesh Iyer has been as impressive in List A cricket. This is after he has so far scored a considerable total of 1458 runs from 40 innings. In this format, he has four hundreds and five fifties to his name. Iyer’s talent has also seen him represent India at the international level where he played two ODIs in January 2022.
