The franchise has been named the Dublin Guardians, and Dravid will work with Ravichandran Ashwin once again. The veteran Indian cricketer will lead the franchise in the first season of the league as per BBC Sports.
For those unversed, Ashwin retired from international cricket in December 2024 and the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2025. However, he revealed he wants to continue playing the sport in an overseas T20 league. He was set to play the Big Bash League (BBL) last summer but missed out due to a knee injury. The 39-year-old will also play the Major League Cricket (MLC) in 2026 for the San Francisco Unicorns.
Rahul Dravid Reacts
Dravid opened up on his decision to buy the team and claimed he was the larger vision behind the tournament that attracted him to make the investment.
“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. 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,” said Dravid in a statement issued by the league.
The league itself is co-owned by Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan alongside Rules Sport Tech, a private Indian company.
“For ETPL, having legends like Rahul associated with this journey is incredibly special because our vision goes beyond building a league. It is about creating a platform that can inspire and nurture the next generation of talent emerging from Irish and broader European cricket. The coming together of icons like Steve Waugh, Glenn Maxwell, Jonty Rhodes, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis, Heinrich Klaasen, alongside Rahul Dravid reflects the belief in ETPL’s vision and reinforces Europe’s immense potential as cricket’s next major growth frontier,” said Bachchan on Dravid’s investment in the league.