This book explores emergent themes from the development through sport literature, and those more established within development theory, in the context of development initiatives in India which explicitly use cricket for wider social purposes. Drawing upon field research undertaken in 2011, it examines how and why cricket is being used in two community level initiatives, the Parivartan Programme and Youth against AIDS , both of which operate within one of Mumbai s most underdeveloped municipal wards, as well as the more holistic interventions of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and its commercial partners. In doing so, this book offers a critical assessment of the motivation and overall efficacy of the use of cricket in development in India, from which conclusions and recommendations as to its future implementation are drawn.