‘Please, I beg you to play the T20′: Lalit Modi recalls Indian players’ scepticism before 2007 T20 World Cup

Former Indian Premier League (IPL) chairperson Lalit Modi has recalled the scepticism surrounding T20 cricket before the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, revealing that several Indian players were reluctant to participate in what was then an untested format.

Speaking to ANI, Modi said he personally approached members of the Indian team during their 2007 tour of England and begged them to play in the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa.

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India’s tour of England in 2007 ran from July 19 to September 8, ending just days before the first-ever ICC T20 World Cup began on September 11. While senior stars such as Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were part of the England tour, they did not feature in the T20 World Cup squad.

According to Modi, many players viewed the format as insignificant and preferred to rest after a lengthy international assignment.

“I went to every player in the dressing room in England when India was touring in 2007. I went and I said, ‘Please, I beg you to play the T20. They said, ‘Lalit, are you joking? What is this stupid game? We don’t want to play it.’ Everybody said that to me in the dressing room. ‘Oh, we’ve had a long tour. We want to be with our families.’ Now, today, would the public, number one, the players, number two, the administrator, number three, accept a player not playing the World Cup? There’d be uproar,” he said.

BCCI sent young team led by Dhoni

Instead of sending a full-strength squad, the BCCI backed a youthful side led by MS Dhoni for the tournament, a move that ultimately resulted in India lifting the trophy.

Modi said such a decision would be difficult to imagine in modern-day cricket.

“The BCCI didn’t even send the main team, India team to South Africa to play the World Cup T20. They sent a second team. ‘Let’s not even send the India team. Let’s put our new team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.’ Completely raw. Completely green. The Tendulkars, the Dravids, the Saurav Gangulys; none of them played the T20 World Cup. Would you accept that today? Today, if the Indian team is to go to the World Cup, any World Cup, would you accept a B team? Would the public accept a B team? Would the board accept a B team?” he added.

The squad featured players such as Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan and RP Singh, many of whom played pivotal roles in India’s title-winning campaign.

‘Nobody believed in T20 cricket’

Modi also reflected on the commercial uncertainty surrounding T20 cricket at the time, saying broadcasters and advertisers were hesitant to invest in a format that had yet to capture public interest.

“Nobody believed in the T20 cricket in India. If there are no eyeballs, there’s no advertising dollars. There’s no advertising dollars, there’s no subscription. If someone is watching, then there will be money. If no one is watching, then there will be no money. Today, anything that has eyeballs is going to get the money from the advertisers,” he said.

Modi further claimed that the tournament struggled to attract viewership until Yuvraj Singh’s iconic six sixes in an over against England transformed public interest and television ratings.

“The T20 World Cup in South Africa had no ratings till Yuvraj Singh hit the six sixes. Till that very day. I orchestrated that. It just happened. I just said anybody who makes six sixes or takes six wickets in an over, I’ll give you a push. I was trying to make something happen when nobody was wanting to make it happen. I went around the world trying to convince people because I knew it will work,” he said.

India went on to defeat Pakistan in a thrilling final to win the inaugural T20 World Cup, a triumph widely regarded as a turning point in the growth of T20 cricket and a catalyst for the launch of the IPL the following year.