Rahul Dravid, the former Indian skipper and head coach, has been unveiled as the owner of Dublin Guardians, one of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) sides. The six-team tournament will be held in August and September.

The league, co-owned by Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, features franchises owned by several former and current international cricketers. 

The league, which is catapulted in partnership with Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association, features teams from Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. It is also Europe’s first ICC-sanctioned multi-country franchise T20 league.

Dravid said the larger vision of the league attracted him and he feels it is a great opportunity to grow cricket in 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 statement. “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.”

Players like Du Plessis and Maxwell will also play in the league, alongside the likes of Steven Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Tim David, Mitchell Santner and Liam Livingstone.

“I know some of the names…some absolutely great players,” Dravid was quoted as saying. “A great opportunity for them to be able to play with so many of the local Irish, Scottish, Dutch and European players. I think that in itself should be a really exciting opportunity.”

Dravid highlighted that development of the game would depend as much on building a strong fan culture and match-day experience as on the quality of cricket itself. “At the grassroots level, it’s about creating that awareness for the fans, it’s about getting people on the ground, it’s about giving them a great experience,” he said. “When they come to the cricket, the quality has got to be of a high standard but the experience of everything else at that venue has to be top-notch. Because we are competing with some very, very established sports.”

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