Slumdog cricketer

In India, cricket and films are often the quickest way to arrive in life. Having watched the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, where a poverty-stricken teenager makes it big, Allan Border thinks it’s possible for underprivileged kids to improve their lives through cricket. In Mumbai, coaching children rescued through an anti-child labour campaign, Border said he’d like to see a “Slumdog cricketer” come through the ranks.

“We understand the kids we work with in Mumbai have had a very tough upbringing,” Border told the Daily News & Analysis. “So we want to bring some fun back into their lives and have some fun doing it as well.

"When you come as a cricketer you stay in five-star hotels and get looked after incredibly well and play at great stadiums. On those trips you don't see the real India but through these programmes you get to see the real India or a different side of India. It's different from where we come from.”

As a result, Border said he had a "great appreciation for the story line”. Here’s hoping real life emulates the reel life.