What if..?? The Indian senior pros played in T20 World Cup 2007

Dhoni after winning the World Cup [PC: Twitter]

On September 24, 2007 a certain S Sreesanth held onto the catch of Misbah-ul-Haq at short fine leg and history was created. India won the first ever T20I World Cup under the leadership of a young and dynamic skipper, MS Dhoni. This ushered in an era of cricket revolution that had a major impact in changing the way the game was played and understood. 

One of the major things to notice in that Indian squad was the absence of the then senior players in Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly.

The Indian board was not ready to accept the newest and the abridged format of the game, to such an extent that they voted against the format in an ICC meeting. But being outvoted 9-1, they were left with no other option but to accept the shortest format of the game. 

Celebrations after winning the tournament [PC: Twitter]

So, when the time came for sending a squad to the inaugural T20 World Cup, India sent a squad of young players under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Given India’s elimination from the 2007 50-overs World Cup from the first round earlier that year, this tournament came with the chance of a cricket crazy nation healing their wounds. 

A young squad, an inexperienced skipper and an unsettled unit, the fans and experts wrote off the team even before it landed in South Africa to play the tournament. But the young Indian side kept on defeating some of the giants of the game and ultimately won the tournament.

But, what if India went in with a full squad?

Let us walk back to the year and see how things have turned out.

Disappointment: The full Indian team comprising Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble has failed to leave up to our expectations of winning the inaugural T20 World Cup. 

The disappointment of elimination from the first round of the 50 overs World Cup earlier this year has been magnified by our first ever loss to Pakistan in any World Cup (as India lost to Pakistan in the group stages of the T20 World Cup).

India were eliminated in the group stage of 2007 World Cup [PC: Twitter]

Who is MS Dhoni, the captain? India let our regular skipper Rahul Dravid lead the team in the tournament even after the failure in the 50 over World Cup. 

After such a disaster India should have handed over the reins to someone else, who could have led India in the 2011 World Cup. Who knows, India might have won the World Cup after 28 years and some other ICC trophies to go with it under someone new. 

What is the IPL? (It is 2008 by now) It is still a big question in the mind of general Indian cricket fans, why is India not starting a domestic T20 tournament of their own? The whole world has accepted the format, why not us? 

The absence of a proper domestic T20 tournament has left us on the wrong side of whatever little matches of the format we have played……….

(2022) As years have gone by all the other nations have reaped so much of the T20 format. India on the other hand, is just starting and is still a newbie in the market. 

Who are Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh….? India’s domestic set up makes it so hard for young talents from remote locations to make it big in the game. 

Without IPL there would have been no Bumrah

Yes there have been a few talents from the smaller cities, but still the majority of the players making it to the squad are from the seats of Indian cricket like Mumbai, Delhi and Karnataka. 

Barring a few players, the fitness of the Indian players are still not upto the international level: Since time immemorial our fielders are lagging behind the international fielding standards. The players still lack access to the modern fielding drills and physical tests that the players from other countries have. 

So, just a small decision of not sending the senior pros to the inaugural T20 World Cup impacted the cricket history of nature in such a big way. 

Also Read: Asia Cup 2022: An analytical dive into team India