Abhishek Bachchan co-owner as first European T20 league is set to take off

The upcoming T20 World Cup will have two qualifiers from Europe: Netherlands, debutants Italy, Ireland and powerhouse England in the fray. However, the football-crazy continent with 34 member nations is set to take a giant leap for a cricketing footprint there with the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) from August.

Scheduled to begin on 26 August, the six-team tournament will be the first-ever franchise league there and aims to bring quality cricket to a region long viewed as the sport's final frontier. Bollywood actor and sports entrepreneur Abhishek Bachchan has come on board as co-owner of the league, adding glamour quotient to a project already backed by some of the biggest names in international cricket. Steve Waugh, the former Australian captain, allrounder Glenn Maxwell and former New Zealand internationals Nathan McCullum and Kyle Mills are owners of three of the city-based franchises.

The ETPL, according to media reports, is looking to raise $20 million and are in talks with private equity funds and high net worth individuals for the ambitious project where each team has to pay a franchise fee of $ 1.5 million. A gala launch in Sydney announced that three of the franchises have been already sold: Amsterdam led by a consortium of Waugh, Jamie Dwyer and Tim Thomas; Edinburgh (McCullum, Mills) and Belfast (Maxwell, Rohan Lund). There is also a window for strategic partners while unconfirmed reports say Reliance Industries (RIL) are also expected to pick up one of the teams.

Speaking to Economic Times, Bachchan said:  “The first boost in the arm is that franchise cricket has become successful the world over. Here is a market that does not have a T20 franchise league and one that has the potential to be huge. You do not need to reinvent the wheel, but obviously we want to take the wheel to newer roads and horizons.”

“We are bullish on the ETPL, and I think there is huge potential in Europe to showcase some of the world’s greatest talent coming to play on these shores, while allowing local cricketing talent to learn and interact with some of the best in the game. The eventual goal is to create local heroes from these teams who can burst onto the world stage,” he added.

Already sanctioned by ICC, the multi-country franchise league is owned and operated through a joint venture between Rules Global (Rules X) and Cricket Ireland, an ICC full member. The league is supported by strategic partnerships with Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Rules Global has four partners including Bachchan, Saurav Banerjee, Priyanka Kaul, and Dhiraj Malhotra.

The league has already secured marquee player commitments with Steve Smith, Mitch Marsh and Maxwell headlining the field in the first season. Speaking about Smith, Waugh was full of praise for Smith, who has rediscovered explosive form in the Big Bash League.

‘’He’s playing the best T20 cricket of his career right now,’’ Waugh said. ‘’Steve Smith brings commitment and intensity to every game he plays. If Australia had an injury concern ahead of the T20 World Cup, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a call-up.’’