3 Indians in County cricket - recap of performances of Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw and Venkatesh Iyer so far
Amidst India's tour of Sri Lanka, the Hundred, and other cricketing events, English County cricket has been at the epicenter of the Indian audience this season. This stems from three of India's more popular cricketers - Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, and Venkatesh Iyer showcasing their skills in England.
After a sensational stint with Northamptonshire last season, Shaw returned to the setup for the second half of the 2024 County season consisting of a few County Championship games and the One Day cup.
As for Rahane, a recall to the Indian Test squad meant he could not play the English county season last season. However, the veteran batter has joined Leicestershire for the second half of the ongoing County season. Rahane is slated to play five County Championship matches and the entire One Day Cup.
Venkatesh Iyer's tenure in England will be five weeks with Lancashire, where he will play in the One Day Cup and County Championship before returning to India for the Duleep Trophy in September. This will be his maiden English county stint of his career.
The One Day Cup has been ongoing since July 24 with one of the three Indian batters regularly on show.
On that note, let us recap the performances of Rahane, Shaw, and Iyer in the 2024 English county season.
#1 Prithvi Shaw
It has been a tale of two halves for swashbuckling opener Prithvi Shaw thus far in the English County season. Coming off another disappointing IPL season, the 24-year-old started slowly for Northamptonshire.
Shaw tallied only 93 runs in the two County Championship outings at an average of 23.25 and a highest score of 37. While the first match against Glamorgan ended in a draw, the following game against Sussex ended in defeat for the Northants.
However, cut to the One Day Cup, Shaw has returned to his comfort zone after scoring an incredible 429 runs at an average of 143 and a strike rate of 152.66 in four outings of last year's tournament.
The youngster started with a low score of only nine in Northamptonshire's first game against Derbyshire but has been impressive since. Shaw has registered scores of 40, 76, 97, and 72 in the next four matches to propel his overall tournament tally to 294 runs at an average of 58.60 and a strike rate of 126.77.
Yet, despite Shaw's sparkling run, his side have won only one out of their five matches to sit second to bottom in the Group A points table.
At the time of writing, Shaw is part of the ongoing match against Somerset but has been dismissed cheaply for a run-a-ball nine.
#2 Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane has been steady for Leicestershire in their middle-order in the first five matches of the One Day Cup.
The 36-year-old began the competition and his County stint with a bang, scoring 71 off 60 deliveries against Nottinghamshire. However, he cooled off a bit with scores of three and 37 in his two games against Warwickshire and Essex.
Rahane was back to best again in the following encounter against Sussex with a 57-ball 68 in Leicestershire's 10-run victory. His most recent vigil was a 31-ball 27 against Surrey in the side's 17-run defeat in a high-scoring thriller.
The veteran batter has thus far scored 206 runs at an average of 41.20 and a strike rate of 103 in five One Day Cup matches. Rahane has provided Leicestershire with much-needed middle-order stability, resulting in three wins out of five games to be fifth in the nine-team Group B.
Rahane will be in action next when Leicestershire takes on Yorkshire on August 8.
#3 Venkatesh Iyer
Coming off a victorious IPL 2024 with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with unbeaten half-centuries in the Qualifier 1 and grand finale, Venkatesh Iyer entered his maiden English County stint with Lancashire.
He joined the side after their first two games of the One Day Cup, with both ending in defeats to Durham and Kent. However, Iyer's arrival hasn't transformed their fortunes as the Lancashire also lost their next two matches. The southpaw struggled with the English conditions, scoring 15 and four in the two outings against Derbyshire and Somerset.
Iyer also bowled in the Derbyshire contest but was smashed for 15 runs off his two overs. He missed out on playing in Lancashire's latest fixture against Hampshire on August 4 as they suffered a fifth consecutive defeat.