India spinner Kuldeep Yadav has signed for English county club Yorkshire as an overseas player and will feature in five One-Day Cup matches from July 24 to August 2. The left-arm wrist spinner will then return to England in September for the final three County Championship fixtures of the season.
The 31-year-old will be playing county cricket for the first time.
Between his two stints with Yorkshire, Kuldeep is expected to represent India in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, beginning on August 15.
Kuldeep was part of India's T20I and ODI squads that toured Ireland and England in June and July but did not feature in any of the 10 white-ball matches.
"I've always enjoyed the challenge of playing in English conditions and after speaking with the management, I became really excited to join up with the team," Kuldeep said in a statement. "I'm looking forward to making a positive contribution during my time at Headingley."
Yorkshire General Manager Gavin Hamilton welcomed the signing, saying Kuldeep's experience would strengthen the side during the closing stages of the season.
"Kuldeep is an accomplished, international-quality player who will add incredible strength to our lineup for these blocks of fixtures," Hamilton said. "Given the dry summer we've experienced, we expect spin to play an important role during the closing stages of the season. Kuldeep gives us another dimension with his left-arm wristspin and brings a wealth of experience at the highest level."
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Although Kuldeep has toured England on multiple occasions, he has played just one Test in the country, at Lord's in 2018.
Kuldeep has not been a regular in India's Test side. Since making his debut in 2017, he has played only 18 Tests, claiming 79 wickets.
He has, however, been a key member of India's white-ball squads, featuring in 121 ODIs and 54 T20Is. The wrist spinner has taken 191 wickets in ODIs and another 95 in T20Is.
When he makes his Yorkshire debut, Kuldeep will become the fifth Indian to represent the county. Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal have previously played for Yorkshire.
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