Cricket in India: New BBC documentary explores what the sport means in its most powerful country
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The series features interviews with India's Jhulan Goswami (left) and Mithali Raj (right) and England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler (centre)
One Billion to One: The Great Indian Cricket Dream |
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A three-part documentary series looking at cricket in India, with episodes on the BBC News channel, BBC World News and BBC iPlayer on 24 September and 1 & 8 October |
India is a cricket-mad nation, with the sport played all over the country, but what is it like to be involved in growing up?
The BBC has been to the country to explore grassroots cricket, the impact of the Indian Premier League and the rise of women's cricket in a new three-part documentary called One Billion to One: The Great Indian Cricket Dream.
The series will be available on the BBC News channel and BBC iPlayer, with episodes over three Saturdays, starting on 24 September.
Here's what you can expect...
Episode one: The women in blue
The opening episode focuses on women's cricket in India and the women's national team.
It features interviews with the leading run-scorer in the women's one-day internationals, former captain Mithali Raj, the leading wicket-taker in Jhulan Goswami and current star batter Jemimah Rodrigues.
They talk about the challenges they faced, with Raj explaining how people assumed she was playing football or hockey when they saw her kitbag, because of the lack of awareness around women's cricket in India.
Goswami speaks about her grandmother encouraging her to "create her own identity", while Rodrigues shares stories about getting a plastic bat aged three and girls more than twice her age laughing when she turned up to a session when she was eight.
Rodrigues believes reaching the 2017 50-over World Cup final against England was a "turning point", with Goswami saying it "created a buzz".
The episode also looks at the continued evolution of women's cricket and the planned introduction of the women's Indian Premier League (IPL) in March 2023.
Episode two: Bollywood & the IPL
Attention turns to the IPL, a Twenty20 franchise tournament launched in 2008, in the second episode.
It has become the richest cricket competition in the world, attracting the world's elite players, with contracts worth more than £1m on offer to the very best.
The episode includes England white-ball captain Jos Buttler discussing the tournament, saying "it compares to the Premier League as a global product".
Former India and Lancashire wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer also explains how the IPL is the "envy of the world", while Kolkata Knight Riders managing director Venky Mysore compares his experiences of the tournament to working on Bollywood productions.
Episode three: The great social leveller
The final episodes focuses on grassroots cricket in India and how street and gully cricket is played all over the country.
The sport has often seen players progress from that level, with Engineer saying: "Cricket is a great social equaliser."
The IPL has helped even further, with Mysore adding: "Talent will not go unnoticed and we have the platform to notice ability and that shows it is absolutely the social leveller."
Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal also shares his experiences, with the 20-year-old saying you need to be mentally tough and have the desire to achieve to make it in cricket.