Ireland’s Jai Moondra was rewarded for his heroics vs India with a berth in the Europa League T20

Ireland breakout star Jai Moondra reaped the rewards of his memorable performances against India after Rotterdam Dockers took him with their opening pick in the opening European T20 Premier League (ETPL) draft on Thursday.

The Indian left-arm paceman announced himself on the international stage during Ireland’s historic 2-0 T20I series over world champions India. Moondra played with the ball throughout the series and won the Player of the Series award after dismantling the Indian batting line-up in the second T20I with figures of 3 for 32. immediate impact on debut by dismissing Sanju Samson with the first ball of his international career.

These performances made him one of the hottest prospects in the ETPL draft where Rotterdam Dockers wasted little time in securing the highly-rated all-rounder as the first player in their squad.

The Dockers have also boosted their roster with Dutch internationals Michael Levitt, Ryan Klein, Vikramjit Singh and Saqib Zulfiqar along with Scotsman Jasper Davidson as they put together a balanced squad for the league’s inaugural season.

JONTY RHODES PRAISES JAI MOONDRA

The ETPL reached a major milestone with the completion of its inaugural Player Draft, where six franchises selected 36 players, 12 of which came from Cricket Ireland, Cricket Scotland and the Royal Dutch Cricket Association (KNCB).

Among the biggest stories of the draft was the selection of Moondra, which underlined how quickly the 29-year-old rose after his heroics against India.

Rotterdam Dockers co-owner Jonty Rhodes explained why the franchise made Moondra their priority signing.

“Jai Moondra was someone we wanted to bring into the team after the way he announced himself on the international stage. He is an exciting young talent with huge potential and we are delighted to have secured him.”

“Alongside Jai, we have 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 look forward to seeing them come together when the league starts.”

MAXWELL, WAUGH HEADLINE LANDMARK ETPL DRAFT

The inaugural European T20 Premier League (ETPL) draft marked a landmark for the competition as six franchises finalized their squads led by some of the biggest names in world cricket.

Cricket legends Rahul Dravid, Steve Waugh, Matthew Hayden, Glenn Maxwell, Jonty Rhodes, Faf du Plessis and Heinrich Klaasen were among those involved as the franchises completed the first ever player selection in the history of the league.

Irish Wolves co-owner Glenn Maxwell expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the draft and highlighted the challenge of building a competitive team from scratch.

“Really happy with how the draft went. It’s a new experience for me to be involved in building a team from scratch. Going through the risk management process, building a team and a team that we can put on the park and be really competitive has been a really great experience.”

Amsterdam Flames co-owner Steve Waugh said the draft required franchises to remain flexible as the selection unfolded.

“The first few options were the players we wanted. And then we knew we’d have to think on our feet, improvise and see what the other teams chose.”

ETPL TEAMS 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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Issued by:

sabyasachi chowdhury

Published on:

02 Jul 2026 20:43 IST