Rajasthan-born Jai Moondra, who was recently named the Player of the Series in Ireland’s historic 2-0 T20I series win over India, has been picked by Rotterdam Dockers for the European T20 Premier League (ETPL) in the inaugural player draft. The league’s six franchises have picked 36 players in the draft for the first ETPL tournament, with 12 each from Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB).
All 36 players have been distributed evenly among the six franchises, as the Amsterdam Flames and Rotterdam Dockers selected the majority of the Dutch players. Meanwhile, Edinburgh Castle Rockers and Glasgow Cosmic selected nine of the 12 Scottish players, while Dublin Guardians and Belfast Wolves picked seven of the 12 Irish players.
Alongside Moondra, the Dockers further reinforced their squad by signing Netherlands internationals Michael Levitt, Ryan Klein, Vikramjit Singh and Saqib Zulfiqar, as well as Scotland’s Jasper Davidson. Belfast Wolves, meanwhile, strengthened their inaugural roster with the addition of seasoned Ireland international Paul Stirling and promising left-arm spinner Matthew Humphreys, bringing a blend of experience and international pedigree to the side.
Ashwin speaks on Dublin Guardians’ picks
Ravi Ashwin has been picked as mentor-cum captain by the Dublin Giants as his franchise also picked several Irish players. Ashwin spoke on the rationale behind his team’s selections. “While the majority of our picks were Irish, I think nationality comes second; it’s about the quality of the player and how they will fit into our mix. I do believe that, going into an auction or a draft, every single player that you pick must be a playable resource. Of course, there must be an exciting amount of skill that they put on display, but they must be very playable. If a player is unavailable, somebody should be able to seamlessly come in and fill up that role,” Ashwin said in a media interaction.ย
Jonty Rhodes speaks on Jai Moondra
Former South Africa cricketer and co-owner of the Rotterdam-based franchise, Jonty Rhodes,ย was “delighted” to have brought Moondra in the set-up. “Moondra was someone we were particularly keen to bring into the squad after the way he has announced himself on the international stage. He is an exciting young talent with tremendous potential, and we’re delighted to have secured him. Alongside Jai, we’ve put together a really exciting group of players from across Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands. We believe we have a strong, balanced squad with the depth and quality to be highly competitive, and we’re looking forward to seeing them come together when the league gets underway.”
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Here is how the teams line-up after the draft
Amsterdam Flames: Curtis Campher, Kyle Klein, Tim Pringle, Aryan Dutt, Jordan Neill and Max O’Dowd
Irish Wolves: Matthew Humphreys, Fred Klaassen, Tim Tector, Paul Stirling, Zainullah Ihsan and Alexander Roy
Dublin Guardians: Benjamin Calitz, George Dockrell, Matthew Hollard, Craig Young, Noah Croes and Chris Greaves
Edinburgh Castle Rockers: Gareth Delany, Ross Adair, Jack Jarvis, Charlie Tear, Safyaan Sharif and Finlay McCreath
Glasgow Cosmic: Brad Currie, Matthew Cross, Paul van Meekeren, Michael Leask, Oliver Davidson and Chris McBride
Rotterdam Dockers: Jai Moondra, Michael Levitt, Ryan Klein, Jasper Davidson, Vikramjit Singh and Saqib Zulfiqar
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