‘What is this stupid game?’ - Lalit Modi recalls India stars rejecting T20 World Cup in 2007

Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi has claimed that several senior Indian cricketers were reluctant to participate in the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007. According to Modi, he personally approached players during India's tour of England that year and urged them to take part in the tournament.

India had toured England for a three-match Test series and a seven-match ODI series, featuring stars such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly. However, none of them played in the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. Instead, a relatively young Indian side, captained by MS Dhoni and including players such as Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, and RP Singh, was selected for the tournament.

Modi said that many established players were unconvinced by the new format and were unwilling to extend their stay after a long tour. He recalled that several cricketers dismissed T20 cricket as a novelty and preferred to return home to their families rather than participate in the competition.

"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," said Modi as quoted by the Times of India.

He also noted that the BCCI opted to send a young and largely inexperienced squad to the tournament instead of its established stars. Modi argued that such a decision would be almost unthinkable in today's cricketing landscape, questioning whether fans, players or administrators would accept India fielding a second-string side at a World Cup. India went on to win the inaugural T20 World Cup under Dhoni's leadership, a triumph that played a major role in transforming the format into a global phenomenon.

"The BCCI didn’t even send the main team, the 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,” said Modi

“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.