Bollywood actor and ETPL co-founder Abhishek Bachchan wants India’s veteran MS Dhoni to play in the European T20 Premier League. Speaking to PTI from Dublin, Bachchan picked Dhoni’s name without a second thought when asked which Indian cricketer he would most like to see in the ETPL.

“Mahendra Singh Dhoni,” Bachchan replied instantly when asked about his dream Indian signing for the ETPL. “Do you need a reason why you want to see Mahendra Singh Dhoni in cricket?” he added.

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni hasn’t played a single match in the ongoing Indian Premier League. Dhoni was earlier ruled out of the first two weeks of the tournament due to a calf strain. When he was about to make a comeback, his injury was aggravated.

It is well known that under current BCCI rules, Indian male cricketers can take part in overseas T20 leagues only after retiring from all forms of Indian cricket, including the IPL. The actor said he would want the Indian players to be part of the ETPL.

“We would have loved to have the (current) Indian cricketers as part of the ETPL. But as we all know, Indian cricketers under contract with the BCCI are not permitted to play outside the IPL. We will miss them. It would have been wonderful to have them,” he said. 

“Outside of the Indian talent pool, we have the rest of the world’s greatest cricketers who are coming and playing in the ETPL. So, I think we will be okay.”

Bachchan added that the idea is to flower the local talent in European countries and give them the right platform to showcase their skills.

“The idea is to create a funnel for local talent to come through and play. Each team has to have local talent and European players as well, and they get to play alongside some of the greats of the game,” he said.

ETPL’s franchise ownership structure:

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