Dublin, May 11 (IANS) Former India captain and head coach Rahul Dravid was on Monday announced as the owner of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) franchise Dublin Guardians, completing the league’s six-team structure ahead of its highly anticipated 2026 launch.

ETPL completed its six-team franchise line-up at a landmark event in Dublin, where Rahul Dravid was officially unveiled as owner of the Dublin franchise ahead of the league’s 2026 launch. The event brought together franchise owners from across the league, including Vipul Aggarwal of Glasgow Franchise, and Jonty Rhodes and Madhukar Shree of Rotterdam Franchise, alongside ETPL co-founders Abhishek Bachchan, Saurav Banerjee, Priyanka Kaul, and Dhiraj Malhotra.

Also, in attendance were senior leaders from European cricket, including Brian MacNeice, Chair of Cricket Ireland; Sarah Keane, CEO of Cricket Ireland; Roland Lefebvre, Director of High Performance of Cricket Netherlands; and Trudy Lindblade, CEO of Cricket Scotland, underlining the strong institutional backing and growing momentum behind Europe’s first ICC-sanctioned multi-country franchise T20 league.

Launched in partnership with Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association, ETPL introduces a first-of-its-kind cross-border franchise model featuring teams from Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam.

The league is expected to feature international stars, including Mitchell Marsh, Tim David, Mitchell Santner, Liam Livingstone, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis, Heinrich Klaasen, among others, creating a unique opportunity for emerging players from Europe and other Associate Nations to compete and share the dressing room with some of the biggest names in world cricket.

Speaking at the launch, Abhishek Bachchan, Co-Founder of ETPL, said, “For ETPL, having legends like Rahul associated with this journey is incredibly special because our vision goes beyond building a league; it is about creating a platform that can inspire and nurture the next generation of talent emerging from Irish and broader European Cricket ecosystem.

“The response from the global cricketing community has been extremely encouraging. The coming together of icons like Steve Waugh, Glenn Maxwell, Jonty Rhodes, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Heinrich Klaasen, alongside Rahul Dravid reflects the belief in ETPL’s vision and reinforces Europe’s immense potential as cricket’s next major growth frontier,” he said.

Rahul Dravid said, “What attracted me to ETPL was the larger vision behind it, the opportunity to help grow cricket in Europe by strengthening grassroots development and creating pathways for emerging talent across Ireland and Europe. Dublin already has a passionate cricketing community and enormous potential for growth. Nurturing the next generation has always been important to me, and I believe ETPL can play a meaningful role in that journey.”

ETPL’s franchise ownership structure brings together an extraordinary mix of cricket legends, entrepreneurs, and international investors:

Dublin franchise – Rahul Dravid

Belfast franchise – Glenn Maxwell and Rohan Lund

Edinburgh franchise – Kyle Mills, Nathan McCullum & Rachel Wiseman

Glasgow franchise –Vipul Aggarwal and Chris Gayle

Amsterdam franchise – Steve Waugh, Jamie Dwyer, and Tim Thomas

Rotterdam franchise – Jonty Rhodes, Faf du Plessis, Glashin and Samir Shah, with Madhukar Shree as Managing Partner

–IANS

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