Former India spinner R Ashwin has joined the likes of Faf du Plessis, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith and Tim David as a direct signing for the inaugural season of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL).
Ashwin will double up as Dublin Guardians' captain and mentor. Ashwin, now 39, had announced his IPL retirement at the end of the 2025 season and is currently in action for San Francisco Unicorns in MLC 2026 in the USA.
Former India captain and T20 World Cup-winning coach Rahul Dravid is the co-owner of the Dublin franchise in the six-team league.
The league, launched in partnership with Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association, features teams from Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. It is also Europe's first ICC-sanctioned multi-country franchise T20 league.
Du Plessis will be joined by fellow South Africans Heinrich Klaasen, Donovan Ferreira and Anrich Nortje at Rotterdam Dockers. Du Plessis and Klaasen co-own the team, with the former also set to captain them.
South Africa seamer Lungi Ngidi is set to turn out for Glasgow Cosmic along with left-arm fast bowler Duan Jansen and left-arm fingerspinner Keshav Maharaj, who is currently at MLC with Texas Super Kings.
Marsh will team up with Smith and David for Amsterdam Flames while Mitchell Owen, who is in terrific form for Washington Freedom in MLC 2026, will represent Rotterdam. Owen was a reserve player at Punjab Kings in the IPL.
Among New Zealand players, Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult, who were recently part of Mumbai Indians in the IPL, will reunite at Edinburgh Castle Rockers. Santner is also set to captain the franchise. Meanwhile, hard-hitting opener Finn Allen will be on Glasgow's books. Michael Bracewell, who opted out of Test cricket and became a white-ball specialist, will represent Amsterdam.
Former Australia batter Matthew Hayden will coach Glasgow, while James Foster will be in charge of Edinburgh.
The Netherlands pair of Scott Edwards and Bas de Leede will play for Amsterdam as their local affiliated players. Meanwhile, Moises Henriques, the former Australia allrounder, is set to feature as a European local for Glasgow, having switched to Portugal.
Jai Moondra among top picks in draft
Ireland left-arm seamer Jai Moondra was Rotterdam's first-round pick in the draft following his heroics against T20 World Cup champions India in Belfast in late June. Moondra victims included Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma.
"Jai Moondra was someone we were particularly keen to bring into the squad after the way he has announced himself on the international stage," Jonty Rhodes, the former South Africa player and current co-owner of Rotterdam, said. "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."
Curtis Campher (Amsterdam), Benjamin Calitz (Dublin), Matthew Humphreys (Irish Wolves), Gareth Delany (Edinburgh) and Scotland's Brad Currie (Glasgow) were the other top picks in Thursday's draft.
Tim Pringle, the Netherlands left-arm spin-bowling allrounder who also plays domestic cricket in New Zealand, was a third-round pick for Amsterdam while Paul Stirling went to Irish Wolves in the fourth round. Overall, 12 players each were drafted from Ireland, Scotland and Netherlands.
The inaugural season of the ETPL will run from August 26 to September 20 in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands.
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