“What is this stupid game?” Lalit Modi claims he ‘begged’ Sachin, Dravid to play 2007 T20 World Cup

Claiming that many of India’s star cricketers were unwilling to play in the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi said he personally approached the players during India’s tour of England that year and urged them to participate in the tournament.India toured England from 19 July to 8 September 2007, for a series of three Tests and seven ODIs, just before the opening of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa on 11 September. While senior players like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were part of the England tour, they did not feature in the T20 World squa in India. The team was led by MS Dhoni and included players like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, RP Singh and Irfan Pathan. Speaking to news agency ANI, Modi said that many players rejected the new format and were not interested in extending their stay in the tournament after a long tour.“I went to every player in the dressing room in England when India were on tour in 2007. I went and said, ‘I’m begging you, please, please play T20. They said, ‘Lalit, are you kidding me? What is this stupid game? We don’t want to play it.’ Everyone was telling me that in the dressing room. “Oh, we had a long tour. We want to be with our families.” Would the public, number one, players, number two, manager, number three accept a non-World Cup player today? There would be an uproar,” he said.Modi also said that the BCCI has decided to send a young side to the tournament instead of its established stars. He pointed out that such a move would be hard to imagine in the current cricketing landscape.“The BCCI didn’t even send the main team, the Indian team to South Africa for the T20 World Cup. They sent the second team. ‘We won’t even send the India team. Let’s put our new team under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.’ Totally raw. Completely green. The Tendulkars, the Dravidas, the Sauravs, the Gangulys; none of them have played in the T20 World Cup. Would you accept it today? Today, if the Indian team is to go to the World Cup, any World Cup, would you accept the B team? Would the public accept the B team? Would the board accept the B team?” he added.According to Modi, T20 cricket initially struggled to gain traction in India because broadcasters and advertisers did not see value in the format.“No one believed in T20 cricket in India. If there are no eyeballs, there will be no advertising dollars. There are no advertising dollars, there are no subscriptions. If someone is watching, then there will be money. If no one is watching, there will be no money. Today, everything that has eyes will get money from advertisers,” he said.Modi further claimed that the inaugural T20 World Cup did not generate significant viewership until Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes in the over against England. He said the moment helped boost interest in the tournament and played a role in changing the perception of the format.“The T20 World Cup in South Africa had no rating until Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes. Until that day. I orchestrated it. It just happened. I said whoever hits six sixes or takes six wickets in an over, I’ll give you a Porsche. I tried to make something happen when nobody wanted to do it,” I knew I went all over the world trying to convince people.