ETPL: Ashwin-Dravid combination yet to take off as Dublin team lose 4 on the trot

The long-awaited Rahul Dravid-Ravichandran Ashwin combination is yet to take charge in the inaugural European T20 Premier League, with Dublin Guardians suffering their fourth consecutive defeat on Wednesday, September 2.

Dravid, the former head coach of India, owns the Dublin franchise while Ashwin leads on the field. But four games into the tournament the much-discussed owner-player combination has plenty of promise, with Dublin yet to open their account.

However, Ashwin has largely done his own thing with the ball.

He took an extra wicket in each of Dublin’s first two matches, taking 1/23 in four overs against Belfast Wolves and 1/43 against Glasgow Comets. The economy beat in the second game as the Guardians conceded 183 with Jason Roy smashing 60. Opener Glenn Maxwell powered Belfast to 184 with a 60-run knock.

Ashwin was much tighter in Dublin’s third match, finishing with 0/20 from his four overs as Edinburgh Castle Rockers were restricted to just 110. Mitchell Santner was the star with the ball, taking five wickets as Glasgow rocked the chase.

Ashwin continued to lead the way on Wednesday, conceding just 21 runs in his four overs to claim a wicket. But his efforts were again not enough as Dublin’s bowling attack struggled to stop the Rotterdam Dockers’ chase.

At least there were encouraging signs with the bat.

James Vince produced the innings Dublin had been waiting for, smashing an unbeaten 95 off 54 balls, with five fours and six sixes. Sanjay Krishnamurthi chipped in with 26 off 17 balls while Vijay Shankar provided a late burst with 26 off 13 as Dublin posted 178 for four.

But Rotterdam made the goal look considerably smaller than it was.

Michael Levitt’s 14-ball 35 gave the chase an explosive start before Faf du Plessis took over. The former South Africa captain hit 79 off 51 balls, hitting nine fours and a six to ensure Rotterdam never let the required pace become a serious problem. Heinrich Klaasen then finished the job with an unbeaten 34 as the Dockers reached 179 for three in 18.4 overs.

CAN DUBLIN FIGHT?

The bigger problem for Dublin remains the lack of consistent batting around Vince. Daryl Mitchell was yet to arrive at the party while Harry Tector and Krishnamurthi managed 93 and 83 runs respectively. What Dublin have lacked is the kind of match-defining consistency that du Plessis provided Rotterdam, with the veteran already on 170 runs in four games.

The good news for Dravid and Ashwin is that the campaign is far from over. Dublin have six more games in the back-to-back phase, starting with Saturday’s clash against Scott Edwards’ Amsterdam Flames.

But in a six-team tournament where the top three advance to the knockout stages, the Guardians may have already exhausted their margin of error.

So far, the Dravid-Ashwin project is still waiting for its first win.

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

02 Sep 2026 21:00 IST