Despite repeated requests, Sachin, Ganguly and Dravid refused to play 2007 T20 World Cup: Lalit Modi

LONDON: There was a time when Indian cricket revolved around the legendary trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Now, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi has made a surprising revelation about the three former stars. According to Lalit Modi, all three senior players declined an invitation to play in the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007. He said the discussions took place during India's tour of England ahead of the tournament.

Modi said he personally approached Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid and requested them to participate in the tournament, which was scheduled to be held in South Africa in September that year. However, none of them was willing to take part. After a long international season, the senior players were reportedly not interested in playing in what was then a new and untested format.

"They told me, 'Are you joking, Lalit? This is a stupid format,'" Modi recalled.

"The players said they were exhausted after a lengthy tour and wanted to spend time with their families and take a break from cricket. As a result, India sent a relatively inexperienced squad under the captaincy of MS Dhoni to the tournament," he said.

The decision eventually proved successful, as India went on to win the inaugural T20 World Cup. Modi pointed out that in today's cricket landscape, it is difficult to imagine a senior player voluntarily opting out of a T20 World Cup.

He also revealed that even special performance-based incentives failed to convince the senior players to participate. Modi added that television ratings for the tournament in India began to rise significantly after Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes in an over against England. Despite the initial scepticism, Modi said he was always confident that T20 cricket would become a massive success around the world.