India has 1.4 billion people.
And one undisputed religion: cricket. 🏏
But quietly, in the corners of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chandigarh… a different sound is taking over.
Thwack. Glass wall. Laughter. Repeat.
Welcome to India's padel boom.
Just three years ago, padel in India was basically a hobby for a few hundred enthusiasts.
Today? It's a movement.
That's not a trend.
That's a takeoff.
In January 2026, something clicked.
MS Dhoni's 7Padel merged with PadelPark India — the venture backed by JSW Sports founder Parth Jindal.
One unified national platform. One mission.
Take padel out of metro penthouses and into the rest of India.
Because when Thala backs something in this country…
people pay attention. ⚡
Now comes the real play.
PadelPark is launching an 8-city franchise-based league next year.
And Parth Jindal isn't shy about the ambition:
"We believe the league will do for padel what the Pro Kabaddi League did for kabaddi."
Think about that for a second.
Kabaddi was a village sport. PKL turned it into a billion-rupee spectacle on prime-time TV.
Padel is being lined up for the same treatment. 📺
Cofounder Nikhil Sachdev has a number in mind:
👉 5,000 courts in the next five years.
That's a 10x jump from today.
Each court? ₹15–20 lakh to build.
Do the math — that's hundreds of crores of fresh capital pouring into a sport most Indians couldn't spell two years ago.
Mahesh Bhupathi — former world No. 1 doubles player and cofounder of the World Padel League — said the quiet part out loud:
"I've been in sport long enough to tell the difference between a moment and a movement. The people playing padel keep coming back."
That's the tell.
Not the celebrity backers. Not the flashy courts.
Retention.
India has spent a decade trying to build sports beyond cricket.
Kabaddi worked. Football is fighting. Hockey is healing.
Padel might be the next one to crack the code — because it's social, it's photogenic, and it's already addictive to the people who try it.
A cricket-mad country is finally making room on the bench.
And padel just grabbed the best seat.
That's all for now!
