Rahul Dravid Named Owner Of Dublin Guardians In European T20 Premier League

Rahul Dravid has been named the owner of Dublin Guardians ahead of the first season of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL). The six-team competition revealed all its franchises during an official launch event on Monday.

Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will lead the Dublin franchise, which will face teams from Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam. Sharing his thoughts on joining the league, Dravid emphasized the ETPL’s broader goal of promoting and developing cricket across Europe.

“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,” Dravid said in a release.

“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,” he added.

The launch event featured several franchise owners and prominent personalities from European cricket. Those in attendance included Jonty Rhodes, along with ETPL co-founders Abhishek Bachchan, Saurav Banerjee, Priyanka Kaul, and Dhiraj Malhotra.

Top officials from Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association were also present, including Brian MacNeice, Sarah Keane, Roland Lefebvre, and Trudy Lindblade.

The ETPL has been introduced through a partnership between Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association, with franchises representing Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam.

Several global cricket stars are set to feature in the opening season, including Mitchell Marsh, Tim David, Mitchell Santner, Liam Livingstone, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis, and Heinrich Klaasen. The first edition of the ETPL is set to take place from August 26 to September 20.

ETPL franchise ownerships

• Dublin – Rahul Dravid
• Belfast – Glenn Maxwell and Rohan Lund
• Edinburgh – Kyle Mills, Nathan McCullum and Rachel Wiseman
• Glasgow – Vipul Aggarwal and Chris Gayle
• Amsterdam – Steve Waugh, Jamie Dwyer and Tim Thomas
• Rotterdam – Jonty Rhodes, Faf du Plessis, Glashin and Samir Shah, with Madhukar Shree as managing partner.