Mumbai, July 3:
European T20 Premier League (ETPL) is a necessary addition in the existing assortment of franchise-based tourneys as the format is here to stay unlike ODIs, said Indian spin bowling legend Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday.
Ashwin will captain the Dublin Guardians franchise in the ETPL. India’s second highest wicket-taker in Test cricket said that with cricket returning to the Olympics in 2028, ETPL will act as a catalyst in making the sport global.
“Look, I think there’s an Olympics that’s going to happen in a couple of years. And if cricket as a game is pretty serious about making it a global affair, the teams in this league will play a very crucial part in enabling that,” said Ashwin in his response to a query.
Ashwin feels the only way to globalise the game is via the T20 format. “Our job will be purely on T20 cricket and how it can get better. And if the game has to become global and it has to become an Olympic sport, the shorter the game, the more viable it is.
“And that’s how it’s going to become much bigger. And you will see a better sample size of players, which is also very critical for several of these leagues which run through the year. T20 as a sport is here to stay. I’m not too sure about ODI cricket,” said Ashwin.
Ashwin is also excited about the prospect of his franchise and the league contributing to the growth of cricket in Ireland.
“So, as far as I’m concerned, this is a really, really exciting prospect where we not only believe that we can pick a team and do well in this tournament and also make it a really good place for these players to come in and get better and also have a lasting impact on the tournament,” Ashwin said.
“We owe it to the Dublin franchise and also Irish cricket in many ways, try and enable them, try and probably provide them with the right amount of exposure and opportunities,” said the legendary off-spinner.
For Ashwin, the league is more about the Scottish, the Irish and the Dutch players getting to showcase their talent in a high quality environment. “We want to make it about them. And that’s something that we were very clear the first day Rahul (Dravid as team owner) and I spoke about it.
“And we will stay very true to that particular formula. And we will put up a culture where cricket is played in a fashion that everyone wants to grow at least by one person every single day.” Ashwin also spoke about how adaptation is key to any sport and how conditions can even out contests as one saw in the recent series where India lost 0-2 to Ireland.
“You should be able to adapt. The name of the game is adaptation, which is why what happened recently between India and Ireland in that T20 series is a classic example of how conditions can eliminate a lot of aspects of the game that have been developed as a root cause of T20 as a sport.”
Would love to see England players in ETPL: Waugh
For Amsterdam Flames co-owner Steve Waugh, while the aim is to develop the untapped talent in the European region, he did admit that getting the current England T20 stars to take part in ETPL during coming years will provide a big boost to the tournament.
“Well, it wasn’t my choice for that (top English players not being part). And yeah, it’d be nice to have English players there, perhaps sometime in the future,” said Waugh.
“But we’re looking at developing players in Europe that haven’t had the big opportunities in the past. They really haven’t been able to showcase their skills. And this is what this tournament’s about.
“It’d be good to have England have more of a presence in the league. Hopefully, once it’s established, obviously, it’s starting in about eight weeks’ time, everybody will see how great this competition is going to be, the quality, the players, the standard,” Waugh signed off.