Cricket has always been the great equaliser — a sport where a 22-year-old from a tiny nation with barely any cricketing structure can, on the right day, dismiss a World Cup winner for a duck. In recent years, the Netherlands have stunned England and South Africa at World Cups. Italy, a country obsessed with football, not only qualified for the T20 World Cup earlier this year but also beat Nepal to register their maiden win at an ICC event. Scotland, too, have toppled former T20 world champions West Indies. These are not footnotes. These are the opening scenes of a story that is still being written. And for anyone who grew up watching Bollywood films, the plot feels familiar. The underdog, the impossible dream, the silence before the roar, the moment nobody saw coming.
Abhishek Bachchan knows that story better than most. In 2023, he played Paddy in Ghoomer, a washed-up, failed cricketer who finds unlikely redemption by coaching a one-handed woman to bowl for India. That film was more than just about cricket. It was about belief and about backing someone the world didn’t have faith in.
Three years later, Bachchan is no longer playing that character on screen. He is living a version of it in real life, except his pitch is not a dusty maidaan in Mumbai. It is Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
The European T20 Premier League (ETPL) is Bachchan’s most ambitious sporting bet yet, with cricket now being another of his “expensive hobbies” after success in kabaddi and football. A six-franchise T20 league spread across Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands, the ETPL is structured on the IPL blueprint, a model Bachchan himself calls “a cornerstone moment in sportainment”. Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow have already been snapped up by a constellation of cricketing royalty — Steve Waugh, Glenn Maxwell, Faf du Plessis, Jonty Rhodes and Nathan McCullum among the franchise owners. The sixth and final team, based in Dublin, got its new owner on Monday. With the inaugural season targeting an August 2026 start, European cricket is finally preparing for its franchise moment.
And for that sixth franchise, Bachchan did not go looking for another global superstar or a billionaire investor. He went looking for Rahul Dravid. The man widely regarded as Indian cricket’s most cerebral mind, four-time World Cup player, architect of India’s U-19 revolution, the coach who delivered a T20 World Cup title, is now the owner of the Dublin franchise. That Dravid said yes, and said it quickly, may be the single most significant endorsement the ETPL has received. As Bachchan puts it, the legends of the game, Dravid, Waugh, Rhodes, “don’t take these things lightly”.
On a packed Monday in Dublin, a city buzzing with the announcement of its newest cricket franchise, Bachchan sat down for an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times Digital. He spoke about why European cricket is finally ready for its franchise revolution, how the T20 World Cup performances of associate nations have energised the ETPL’s vision, what it took to get Dravid on board, and why he believes world-class cricket, not glamour, will ultimately determine whether this league goes the distance. Here are excerpts from the interview.
Q) Over the years, you’ve spoken at length about your journey from kabaddi to football and now cricket. You once called a sports team ownership an “expensive hobby,” so what made you feel that this was the right time to step into cricket with the European T20 Premier League?
To be very fair, I always wanted to do something in cricket. Cricket is the gold standard for us Indians. At the start of my sporting entrepreneurial journey, I wasn’t very well-equipped to do anything in cricket. More importantly, for me, it was about asking: what can I contribute?
I think the BCCI already does a fantastic job back home. So I wondered how I could contribute to the world of cricket, and ETPL felt like the one space where I could actually make a difference and contribute meaningfully.
Q) We’ve seen attempts to launch a European T20 league before. What gives you the confidence that ETPL can succeed and create a lasting impact? You’ve even spoken about wanting to build a legacy in cricket through this league. Also, did the recent performances of teams like the Netherlands and Italy in the T20 World Cup strengthen that belief?
To answer the second part first — absolutely. I think it has been the greatest shot of adrenaline for European cricket. Seeing the Netherlands, Italy, Scotland, and even Ireland perform the way they did has been one of the most exciting aspects in building the buzz around ETPL.
Coupled with that is the fact that cricket is now going to be an Olympic sport, which has generated huge excitement around the game in Europe. All these factors coming together are very exciting to witness firsthand.
I’m currently in Dublin to announce our sixth and final team, which Mr. Rahul Dravid has purchased. You can genuinely feel the excitement among the fans here.
As for sustainability, I firmly believe that if the quality of cricket is world-class, the league will succeed. I’m not sure there’s any alternative to that. The rest, the razzmatazz, glamour, and entertainment, are all important, but they alone won’t make a league successful. If the cricket is competitive and exciting, that’s what will ultimately help the league grow.
Q) You mentioned glamour and razzmatazz, and the first thing that comes to mind is the IPL, which is considered the gold standard of franchise cricket. How much inspiration has ETPL taken from that model?
What Mr. Modi and the IPL achieved almost 20 years ago was truly a cornerstone moment in sportainment and a seminal moment for cricket. We’re all huge IPL fans, and naturally it serves as a massive inspiration.
To create something so distinctive and entertaining, and for it to still be thriving nearly two decades later, really shows the kind of potential a league can have. So yes, the IPL is a wonderful inspiration for any sporting league looking to establish itself, not just in cricket.
Q) You also mentioned Rahul Dravid, another very strong India connect for the ETPL. How did you convince him join the squad?
It didn’t take much convincing, thankfully. That has actually been one of the most reassuring aspects for us. Once he heard the vision that my co-founders and I had for cricket in Europe, he came in all guns blazing. He was genuinely excited about the project.
He has been extremely positive and has really driven us forward. Rahul, Jonty Rhodes, Steve Waugh, these are legends of the game, and they don’t take these things lightly. They’re deeply invested in what they do.
What has been truly inspirational is seeing how interested they are in developing cricket in Europe. They’ve already put in a tremendous amount of work, and their passion for how the game will be played here has been exemplary. So Rahul really didn’t need much convincing at all.
Q) In Ghoomer, you were part of an underdog cricket story. Now you’re helping build one in real life with teams from Ireland, Scotland, and the Netherlands. What’s the one story you hope ETPL creates in its very first season?
Wow, great question. I think the most obvious answer is that I want people to watch the tournament and say, “Hey, did you see that? That was really exciting. I can’t wait for the next season.”
You obviously want the first season to deliver exciting, world-class cricket. Beyond that, over time, as we expand into more teams and hopefully into mainland Europe, I’d love for ETPL to become one of the biggest T20 tournaments in the world in terms of participation, a truly continental cricket tournament.
