Du Plessis & Rhodes & invest in Dutch ETPL team

Faf du Plessis, Heinrich Klaasen and Jonty Rhodes have been announced as the co-owners of the Rotterdam franchise in the European T20 Premier League.

As reported by BBC Sport in March the trio of ex-South Africa international players are part of a group which has bought the second Dutch team - who will be called the Rotterdam Dockers - for the inaugural tournament later this summer.

Five of the six franchises for the ETPL have now been sold with an investment group involving Rahul Dravid and Ravichandran Ashwin in advanced talks to acquire the final team based out of Dublin.

Du Plessis, who will captain the Dockers, said: "This is my first step into team ownership, and the timing couldn't be better with European cricket gaining real momentum.

"Having experienced franchise leagues across the world, I see immense potential in what the ETPL is building. I'm looking forward to contributing both on and off the field and helping shape a strong cricketing culture within our team."

Rhodes said the ETPL represented a "compelling opportunity" to develop "Europe's cricketing potential" on a global stage.

"What the region now needs is a strong commercial framework to unify and elevate this ecosystem," he added.

"The ETPL offers exactly that, creating pathways to identify, nurture, and scale talent, and ultimately strengthening the game across Europe."

The ETPL is being run in collaboration with the cricket boards of Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands with teams based out of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Bollywood actor and film producer Abhishek Bachchan is a part-owner of the ETPL in conjunction with Rules Sport Tech, a private Indian company.

As reported by BBC Sport earlier this year, the franchises have been sold for £11.1m ($15m) over a 10-year period.

The tournament is set to be played from 26 August to 20 September.