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Europe's first major T20 league 'European T20 Premier League (ETPL)' has started. This franchise-based league started from 26th August and will run till 20th September. 6 teams are participating in it. Indian legends Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane are also playing in this league. Rahane retired from international and Indian cricket last month. This is his first franchise league after retirement. Rahane is in the team of Amsterdam Flames. The co-owner of this team is Australian legend Steve Waugh.

Ashwin had said goodbye to international cricket in December 2024. After this, he was seen playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, as soon as this season ended, he also announced his retirement from IPL on 27 August 2025. Now he is playing in foreign leagues.

Ashwin was signed for the Big Bash League but was ruled out due to injury. Ashwin was seen playing in America's Major League Cricket this year. Now he has entered ETPL. He is a part of the Dublin Guardians team. He is also the captain and mentor of this team.

Who are the other Indian players in ETPL?

Apart from Rahane Ashwin, Vijay Shankar is also participating in this European league. Former Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar has retired from Indian cricket just a few months ago. He is coming after playing in Lanka Premier. Vijay Shankar is a part of Dublin Guardians along with Ashwin. The special thing is that the co-owner of this team is Rahul Dravid.

Vikram Rathore, who was a part of the coaching setup of the Indian team and Rajasthan Royals along with Dravid, has been made the coach of Dublin Guardians. Former Indian fast bowler Varun Aaron is the bowling coach of Glasgow Cosmic.

Who are the captains in ETPL?

There are six teams in this league – Dublin Guardians, Amsterdam Flames, Glasgow Cosmic, Rotterdam Dockers, Belfast Wolves, Edinburgh Castle Rockers. R Ashwin is in command of Dublin Guardians. The Amsterdam Flames will be captained by Scott Edwards. Earlier Mitchell Marsh was made the captain of this team but he withdrew his name from the tournament.

Glenn Maxwell is the co-owner of Belfast Wolves. He will also be seen captaining this team. Faf Duplessis also plays the role of co-owner and captain with Rotterdam Dockers. The reins of Glasgow Cosmic are in the hands of George Munsey.

What are the rules?

A total of 32 matches are to be played in ETPL 2026. In the league stage, each team will play two matches each with the other five teams in a double round-robin format. The team that tops the points table after 30 league matches will get direct entry into the finals. A qualifier will be played on September 19 between the teams finishing second and third, whose winning team will reach the final.

The first stage of the tournament is being played at Voorberg Cricket Club in Netherlands. From September 9, the remaining matches will be held at Malahide Cricket Club in Ireland. The qualifiers and finals will be played here.

A maximum of 4 foreign players can be included in the playing XI of ETPL teams. That means there will be 4 foreign and 7 local players. The second rule is that if teams have only 2 foreign players in their playing XI, then they can take the field with 4 associates and 5 local players.