New Delhi, July 24 (IANS) Legendary Australia captain Steve Waugh believes Ireland’s 2-0 T20I series sweep over world champions India happening in June is a clear indicator of the untapped potential in European cricket and offers a massive boost to the upcoming inaugural season of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL).
Waugh is a co-owner of the Amsterdam Flames franchise in the league, which begins on August 26. “Ireland whitewashing the T20 World Cup Champions, India, 2-0 is an amazing result for Irish cricket. It just shows how much potential there is for European cricket.
“That is why I am really excited about the ETPL, which is coming up in a month’s time. I am a part of the Amsterdam Flames in this exciting venture. European cricket has got huge potential, as was seen in the last couple of weeks,” Waugh said in a release by the tournament on Friday.
Echoing Waugh’s optimism, ETPL co-founder and actor-producer Abhishek Bachchan stated that the league is built on a sustainable, long-term foundation rather than being a short-term venture, citing global marquee talent like Ravichandran Ashwin and Faf du Plessis playing in the competition.
“When my co-founders and I started the ETPL, we believed that if we got the right people to believe in our vision and buy teams, the players would follow. They would see the ownership and understand what their vision is.
“The kind of players these teams have already signed up, Faf du Plessis and R Ashwin, absolute legends of the game, proves that point. Amsterdam Flames have also done a great job of signing up many wonderful players. Everyone is working very hard. The players come because they see that the ownership means business.
“This is not a short-term project. This is something people believe in for the long term. They want to build something lasting. They are the best in the business when it comes to identifying and nurturing new talent. The players see that as well,” he said.
Drawing from his extensive experience as a sports franchise owner in India across non-cricket disciplines like Kabaddi (Jaipur Pink Panthers) and Football (Chennaiyin FC), Bachchan highlighted the importance of carving out a distinct space rather than competing head-on with established European sporting giants.
“I have a fair amount of experience in team ownership because two of the teams that I own back home, one is in Kabaddi and one is in Football. They both aren’t the number one sport in India and Cricket is the most watched sport by miles.
“So, I have a fair amount of experience, and that is one of the reasons that made me very comfortable to come into the ETPL on a league level. I had some sort of idea of what we can do to get a sport that might not be the first go-to sport but still drag eyeballs.
“The biggest lesson is not to compete with the big sports. It is about creating your own unique product and creating your own unique fan base to start with, and then it will organically grow into something. So, I think the biggest mistake we could make is try and compete with the big sports in Europe
“They have been around in an organized franchise fashion for, in the case of football, over a hundred years. That is not something you can compete with. But you can learn from it, build your own fan base, and then allow them to do it themselves,” he concluded.
–IANS
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