'It's Out Of My Comfort Zone And Exciting': Dravid On Being Co-owner In ETPL

Its out of my comfort zone and exciting: Dravid on being co-owner in ETPL (Image Source: IANS)

European T20 Premier League: Former India cricketer and head coach Rahul Dravid has switched roles to be a co-owner of Dublin Guardians in the upcoming European T20 Premier League as he steps out of his "comfort zone" for something he finds "exciting" ahead.

The inaugural edition of the ETPL kicks off on August 25 with significant Indian interest. Dravid is a franchise co-owner, Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan is a co-founder of the European city-based league, and Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, and Vijay Shankar will be on the pitch playing for their teams.

Speaking on why he joined the league, Dravid said some stalwarts are already on board and that he felt it would be an "exciting" job. "There are some really good people to work with and be associated with the league as well. The Amsterdam Flames have Steve Waugh, someone I've always admired, and Jamie Dwyer setting up that team. Glenn Maxwell is part of one team, and even the league owners; just the passion that someone like Abhishek Bachchan has for the sport and the team that he has put up to set up the league felt like a good bunch of people trying to do something really nice," Dravid told JioStar.

"I thought, ‘Why not get involved, do something slightly different?’ I've always been involved as a coach or as a player, but trying to set up things and appoint coaches and players and marketing and finance, stuff that is a little bit out of my comfort zone, is exciting nevertheless," he added.

The 2024 T20 World Cup-winning coach then opined that Europe has a "lot of talent" and there is a chance to grow the sport more in the continent. "I've always felt that there is a lot of talent and a lot of opportunity to grow the sport in Europe. It felt like the right platform to be able to grow the sport in Europe and to try and make an effort as a former cricketer to have more people participate in the game, recognising that cricket needs to grow and be available to a lot more boys and girls to be able to play the game," he added.

Dravid also spoke on one of the most debated things in cricket currently. The growing interest in T20 cricket seems to have overshadowed the other formats. Dravid feels Test cricket is still the pinnacle of the sport, but T20 cricket is the driving force for growth in several nations.

The 2024 T20 World Cup-winning coach then opined that Europe has a "lot of talent" and there is a chance to grow the sport more in the continent. "I've always felt that there is a lot of talent and a lot of opportunity to grow the sport in Europe. It felt like the right platform to be able to grow the sport in Europe and to try and make an effort as a former cricketer to have more people participate in the game, recognising that cricket needs to grow and be available to a lot more boys and girls to be able to play the game," he added.

"From there, once you're able to get people involved in the game, then you can start thinking about putting things in place to see if there's an opportunity to grow the longer formats of the game in this part of the world. But when you're starting, when you're trying to take your early steps, I think the T20 format's the perfect format," he added.

Article Source: IANS