The Indian Premier League (IPL) promised to transform cricket in India until a series of scandals rocked the league – and threatened the integrity of the sport itself. But a leadership team unites to save the IPL and winds up navigating it through an even bigger crisis: the pandemic.
It's April 2008 and a new sports league is about to begin.
The IPL, or the Indian Premier League.
Excitement has been bubbling below the surface for weeks.
Fans have witnessed a raft of things new to indian sport, like players being bid on by different teams as if they were fine art or the antics of a flamboyant founder.
But what they're looking forward to most, of course, are the actual games in a whole new format of the country's favorite sport, cricket.
The format of the IPL.
As it was coming through, there were lots of unanswered questions.
My name's Prakash Wakhankar.
The passion that drives me is cricket.
I often say work and job puts food on the table, but the soul feeds off cricket.
Prakash is a bit of a purist.
Hes a cricket analyst on a BBC radio show dedicated to the traditional format of cricket, the one where a single game goes on for five days.
It even has lunch and tea breaks scheduled in.
But the IPL, its the t 20 format, a snack in comparison.
It usually lasts just 3 hours per game.
The plan is for a season of the IPL to last for just six weeks.
And you're not playing for your country like in the traditional format.
You're playing for a franchise that's based in an indian city, like with most american sports.
So Prakash had his doubts.
Would you give off your best?