New Delhi: Shreyas Iyer is set to follow the footsteps of Indian legends Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman as he joined the English County Club Lancashire. Lancashire announced the signing of Iyer on Monday for the Royal London Cup 2021, Iyer will reach the Old Trafford on 15th July and will play for the ‘Red Rose’ for the month-long group stage.
Shreyas Iyer also expressed the honour he feels after signing for the Lancashire, he said, “Lancashire is a legendary name in English Cricket with a long-standing association with Indian Cricket. I am extremely humbled and honoured to carry the legacy forward of greats like Farokh Engineer, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman at Lancashire. Old Trafford is a world-class international stadium and I am looking forward to meeting my teammates and the supporters of the club.”
?? It’s time to… #ShreYasssToTheSummer
Swagat Hai, @ShreyasIyer15! ?
? #RedRoseTogether @MCRIndia pic.twitter.com/PQYOOMUUSl
— Lancashire Cricket (@lancscricket) March 22, 2021
Iyer is a star of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and captained Delhi Capitals to the final last year. He scored a whopping 519 runs — the fourth highest in the tournament — with a strike rate of 123. After the last year’s IPL, Shreyas played in all three matches against Australia as India won the series by 2-1. He is also selected for the ongoing series against England.
Since his debut in 2017, Shreyas has scored over 6,000 runs so far in his career with nine centuries. His average is just short of 45 in ODI cricket with eight half-centuries and a century.
The signing of Shreyas Iyer signals the latest development in Lancashire’s long association with Indian cricket, which stretches back more than 50 years. The first Indian to join the club was wicketkeeper-batsman Farokh Engineer who joined the club in 1968. He went on to become a Lancashire legend and is now serving as a Vice-President of the Club. After Engineer retired, four other Indian internationals — Murali Kartik, Dinesh Mongia, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly — have represented the Red Rose with distinction.
In run-up of the England versus India Test match series at Emirates Old Trafford in September along with a celebration of Shreyas’ arrival, Lancashire Cricket will host a number of special Indian Summer events schedule during 2021. Various cultural events will take place that aims to bring the famous energy and excitement of Indian cricket supporters to Old Trafford regularly.
