Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been named as the captain of the Dublin-based side, which will compete in the six-team tournament featuring franchises from Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
Speaking about his involvement, Dravid emphasised the league’s broader mission of developing cricket across Europe and strengthening its grassroots structure.
“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 an official 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,” he added.
The grand launch event saw the presence of several high-profile names from the cricketing world, including Jonty Rhodes and ETPL co-founders Abhishek Bachchan, Saurav Banerjee, Priyanka Kaul, and Dhiraj Malhotra.
Officials from Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland, and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association were also in attendance, underlining the strong institutional backing behind the tournament.
The ETPL has attracted several global stars, with players such as Mitchell Marsh, Tim David, Mitchell Santner, Liam Livingstone, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis and Heinrich Klaasen expected to feature in the inaugural season. The tournament is scheduled to run from August 26 to September 20.
ETPL franchise ownerships:
Rotterdam – Jonty Rhodes, Faf du Plessis, Glashin and Samir Shah (with Madhukar Shree as managing partner)
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
