India's Dravid to co-own Dublin Guardians in European T20 league / Photo: © AFP
India's Dravid to co-own Dublin Guardians in European T20 league
Former India captain Rahul Dravid has been named co-owner of the Dublin Guardians in the new European T20 Premier League, starting in August, as part of an Indian consortium.
Indian batting great Dravid is the latest in a string of former cricketers to take an ownership stake in one of the league's six franchises based in Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is co-owner of Belfast Wolves while former Australia captain Steve Waugh is among the owners of the Amsterdam Flames.
New Zealanders Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills are owners of Edinburgh Castle Rockers while West Indies white-ball legend Chris Gayle is a co-owner of Glasgow Cosmic.
South Africans Jonty Rhodes, Faf Du Plessis and Heinrich Klaasen are owners of Rotterdam Dockers.
"Dublin already has a passionate cricketing community and enormous potential for growth," said the 53-year-old Dravid, who has also been the head coach of India and Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.
"Nurturing the next generation has always been important to me, and I believe the ETPL can play a meaningful role in that journey."
Organisers of the new league, co-founded by Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan, are aiming to establish Europe, outside of traditional heartland England, on cricket's global map and boost the game across the continent.
Launched in partnership with Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association, the ETPL will be Europe's first ICC-sanctioned multi-country franchise T20 league.
Du Plessis, Klaasen and Maxwell will also play in the league alongside stars such as Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Santner and Liam Livingstone.
The ETPL's inaugural edition will feature 33 matches from August 26 to September 20.
G.Morris--TNT
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