ETPL Not A Short-Term Project : Abhishek Bachchan

As the countdown to the inaugural edition of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) begins, with the tournament set to kick off on August 26, league co-founder Abhishek Bachchan shared his vision behind backing the league and the lessons he has learned from owning sports franchises across multiple disciplines while, Amsterdam Flames co-owner Steve Waugh spoke about the potential of European cricket.

Abhishek Bachchan, Co-Founder, ETPL, elaborated on the vision behind ETPL:

"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."

On his experience in Kabaddi and Football and how that helped him frame his strategy for the ETPL:

"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."

Steve Waugh, Co-Owner, Amsterdam Flames, weighed in on Ireland's T20I series whitewash against India and the potential of European cricket:

"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."