Craig Young celebrates With Ravichandran Ashwin© ETPL
Unlike many other overseas T20 leagues around the world, the European T20 Premier League has a fair bit of Indian representation. While the BCCI’s rule means no active Indian cricketers are present, the presence of Ravichandran Ashwin (Dublin Guardians) and Ajinkya Rahane (Amsterdam Flames) somewhat makes up for it. Vijay Shankar has also signed as a player for the Rahul Dravid co-owned Dublin Guardians. The side is coached by Vikram Rathour.
Australia star Tim David says the presence of Indians helps raise the profile of the tournament.
“It’s great to have those guys in the league. It gives the tournament a profile for sure. They also have a huge fan following after successful international careers. It’s great to play with those guys. I have played a fair bit against them in the IPL, but for a lot of local players here who haven’t played in the IPL or haven’t played international cricket, it’s pretty cool for them to rub shoulders with players of such profile,” David told NDTV.
“It’s great to be part of a tournament that’s in its first year. It’s going to develop a lot. We just finished the leg in Holland and we are now starting in Ireland. It’s the first time I am playing in both countries, so it is going to be exciting.”
Like the Indians, there are several Australians playing in the ETPL. Glenn Maxwell (Belfast Wolves), Steve Smith (Amsterdam Flames), and Ben McDermott (Rotterdam Dockers) are also part of the league. Mitchell Marsh also signed up for the tournament but pulled out.
“Mitchell Marsh’s phone is buzzing from me as he did not show up. No, we are having great fun. It’s always good to play with Steve Smith on your team.
“It gives good profile to the tournament. They might have their own fan base. I can’t speak for those, but it’s certainly great to work with Steve (Waugh), who is the co-owner of Amstersam Flams. He’s obviously a revered name in Australian cricket. He hasn’t spent much time away from T20 cricket either. It’s pretty cool to rub shoulders with an Australian hero.”
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