Legendary former Indian cricketers Rahul Dravid and Ravichandran Ashwin are among the newest investors to purchase a franchise in the European T20 Premier League.
The duo is part of an Indian group that has finalized a deal to acquire the Glasgow-based franchise in the six-team tournament set to take place this summer.
The ETPL is also on the verge of selling the second Dutch franchise, located in Rotterdam, to a consortium of South African investors led by former Proteas players Faf du Plessis, Heinrich Klaasen, and Jonty Rhodes.
It is expected that both franchises will be officially unveiled at an event later this month.
These transactions follow the sale of EPTL franchises in Amsterdam, Belfast, and Edinburgh to investors from Australia and New Zealand back in January.
The only ETPL city franchise that hasn’t been sold yet is in Dublin, although there is interest from various parties, including the owners of at least two teams in The Hundred
Ashwin’s participation is particularly interesting and opens up the exciting possibility of him playing in the ETPL, which would be a significant win for the organizers.
Ashwin has played 106 Tests, 116 ODIs, and 65 T20s for India, taking a total of 765 wickets.
Ashwin was set to become the first player capped by India at the international level to participate in the latest edition of Australia’s Big Bash League after signing with Sydney Thunder.
Unfortunately, the spin-bowling all-rounder sustained a knee injury while training in Chennai last December and has been undergoing rehabilitation since his surgery.
Dravid’s choice to team up with a franchise based in Glasgow connects back to his historical ties with Scottish cricket.
He was an overseas professional for Scotland during the 2003 season when they were still involved in English county cricket’s limited-overs competitions.
The ETPL is being organized in partnership with the cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands.
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