Legendary Australia captain Steve Waugh has pointed to Ireland's 2-0 T20I series victory over world champions India in June as compelling evidence of European cricket's untapped potential — and a timely fillip for the inaugural season of the European T20 Premier League (ETPL), which gets underway on 26 August.

Waugh's Take on Ireland's Historic Sweep

Waugh, who is a co-owner of the Amsterdam Flames franchise in the ETPL, described Ireland's result as extraordinary for the sport's growth on the continent. '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,' he said in a statement released by the tournament on Friday.

The former Australia skipper added that the result reinforced his enthusiasm for the new league. '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.

Abhishek Bachchan on the Long-Term Vision

Actor-producer and ETPL co-founder Abhishek Bachchan echoed Waugh's optimism, stressing that the league is designed as a long-term enterprise rather than a quick commercial venture. He cited the signing of global stalwarts Ravichandran Ashwin and Faf du Plessis as proof that the ownership structure is attracting serious talent.

'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. The kind of players these teams have already signed up — Faf du Plessis and R Ashwin, absolute legends of the game — proves that point,' Bachchan said.

He further noted that the Amsterdam Flames have made strong signings of their own, and that players are attracted by the credibility of the ownership group. 'This is not a short-term project. This is something people believe in for the long term. They want to build something lasting,' he added.

Lessons from Kabaddi and Football Ownership

Bachchan drew on his experience as a franchise owner in India — with the Jaipur Pink Panthers in Kabaddi and Chennaiyin FC in Football — to outline the ETPL's competitive strategy. Both sports, he noted, operate in the shadow of cricket in India, giving him a practical understanding of how to build audiences for non-dominant sports.

'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,' he said.

The Strategy: Create, Don't Compete

Bachchan was emphatic that the ETPL's path to success lies in carving out its own identity rather than going head-to-head with established European sports. '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,' he said.

He acknowledged that European football, organised in franchise form for over a century, is an impossible benchmark to chase directly. '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,' Bachchan concluded.

With the ETPL set to kick off on 26 August, the league's backers will be hoping that Ireland's landmark win over India has already done some of its marketing for it.