Ravichandran Ashwin Named Mentor Of Ireland Team For New T20 League

Ravichandran Ashwin [Source: AFP]Ravichandran Ashwin has been appointed as the mentor of the Ireland-based Dublin Guardians franchise for the upcoming inaugural 2026 edition of European T20 Premier League (ETPL). Last month, the former Indian all-rounder was also named as the captain of the franchise. Notably, the Dublin Guardians franchise is co-owned by none other than Ashwin’s former Indian head coach and all-time batting great, Rahul Dravid. Ravichandran Ashwin to lead and mentor Dublin in ETPL 2026On Wednesday, July 1, the official ETPL social media platforms confirmed that Ravichandran Ashwin has been appointed as the captain as well as the mentor of the Dublin Guardians franchise for the upcoming ETPL 2026 season. Also Read- Ravichandran Ashwin Hits Out At Sanjay Manjrekar For Vaibhav Sooryavanshi OutragePraising Ashwin’s vast experience, ETPL wrote “A true tactical mastermind is entering the ETPL! One of the greatest and sharpest minds in world cricket, Ravichandran Ashwin, officially joins the Dublin Guardians as Captain & Mentor.”European T20 Premier League (ETPL) @etplofficial 🚨 MASSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 A true tactical mastermind is entering the ETPL! One of the greatest and sharpest minds in world cricket, Ravichandran Ashwin, officially joins the Dublin Guardians as Captain & Mentor. A massive statement of intent ahead of the inaugural season. Jul 1, 2026, 3:19 PM Ravi Ashwin re-unites with Rahul DravidA couple of months ago, former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid was also named as one of the co-owners of the Dublin Guardian franchise. He is part of an Indian consortium that acquired the team.Upon becoming co-owner, Dravid said “It's absolutely brilliant to be involved. When I first heard about this it was really exciting. I've always loved the passion and energy of cricket in Europe. The passion with which the players play the game.”With Ravichandran Ashwin appointed as the team's captain and mentor, the occasion also marks his reunion of sorts with the legendary Indian batter. Ashwin and Dravid were briefly teammates for India in the early 2010s, while the latter also served as head coach of the Indian team during a period when the seasoned all-rounder was a regular member of the side.All you need to know about ETPL 2026The inaugural edition of the ETPL, i.e., the ETPL 2026 season will be played between August 26 and September 20 starting next month. The Europe-based T20 league is a joint collaboration between Scotland, Ireland and Netherlands cricket boards. As many as six franchises will be taking part in the inaugural season, with two franchises each representing one of the league’s three founding members. From Ireland, the Irish Wolves serves as the other franchise apart from Dublin Guardians. The Wolves franchise is co-owned and led by explosive Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell. From Netherlands, the Amsterdam Flames is co-owned by Steve Waugh, Jamie Dwyer and Tim Thomas; and will be led by Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh. The Rotterdam Dockers will be led by Faf du Plessis and is co-owned by Jonty Rhodes, Bollywood actor John Abraham among others.Scotland’s Edinburgh Castle Rockers and Glasgow Cosmic franchises are co-owned by New Zealand’s Kyle Mills, Nathan McCullum and the Mugafi Group respectively.Active New Zealand all-rounder and white-ball captain Mitchell Santner is fittingly the captain of the Edinburgh Castle Rockers team.Also Read- Shreyas Iyer Drops Suryakumar Yadav’s 1st Official Message After T20I Captaincy Switch