Farmer Bhuvan and his love Gauri live in the small village of Champaner in North India in 1890s. They, like the rest of their community, struggle to live off their harvests. When a brute-like British army captain challenges the locals to a cricket match, they fail to realize just how high the stakes are. One of the conditions of the game is that the loser will be burdened with a heavy, if not crippling, land tax. Although poor, the villagers are people of self-respect. Led by Bhuvan, they are ready to take on the Britons despite their ignorance of the game.