KKR star Venkatesh Iyer joins English County Club, cites Sourav Ganguly after joining

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Kolkata Knight Riders star Venkatesh Iyer has joined Lancashire County Cricket Club for a five-week stint.

He aims to make a strong return to the Indian national team by participating in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup and the final rounds of the Vitality County Championship.

Venkatesh, who played a key role for KKR in their IPL 2024 title win, is set to feature in these competitions starting late August. Lancashire County Cricket Club confirmed his signing on Friday.

"I am incredibly excited about heading 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," Venkatesh stated.

He added, "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."

The Indian all-rounder has not committed to a long-term contract with Lancashire. He plans to return to India for the Duleep Trophy, which starts on September 5. This domestic tournament is part of his strategy to re-enter the Indian national team setup.

Iyer has played in 2 ODIs and 9 T20Is for India, scoring 24 and 133 runs in the formats respectively. The 29-year-old last played in the national colours in 2022 and will be hoping to make a return to the reckoning in coming months.