English County Lancashire has signed a deal with Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer for a short stint at County cricket. This will be Iyer’s maiden stint at county cricket. He will feature for the side in the One-Day Cup and also a few games of the County Championships.

Iyer was a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Champions Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this year. The all-rounder was a key in taking KKR to their third IPL title. In the international arena, Iyer has represented India in the white-ball formats. He also has a fantastic List A record playing for his state Madhya Pradesh, averaging over 44 at a strike rate of more than 100.

“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. 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.

“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 teammates to achieve their targets in both formats this summer.”

Iyer has not been a part of the India setup for the past year or so. Hardik Pandya has been playing the role of the fast-bowling all-rounder in the side. County cricket can well provide him with a platform to perform under difficult conditions and knock on the doors of the Indian selectors.

Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s Director of Cricket Performance, confirmed that Venkatesh’s two games in the Championship will be against Surrey and Hampshire. “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,” Chilton said.