Caught in a Pickleball

With over 1,000 courts and ambitions for a million players by 2028, pickleball is an emerging nationwide movement

- By TANISHA SAXENA

When Khushi Dalmia first heard about pickleball in December, she was skeptical.

The 24-year-old marketing consultant, like many young professionals in Mumbai, had a fitness routine confined to the gym. But the buzz around this curious sport caught her attention. "It was fun, fast, and, more importantly, something I could consistently enjoy without feeling like a chore," Dalmia says.

What began as a casual experiment is now a fixture in her week. "The excitement, the challenge, and the people I have met are what keep me coming back," she says.

Dalmia is not the only one. Across Indian cities, from Mumbai to Kolkata to Ranchi, pickleball—a sport invented in the US in the 1960s but surging globally only in recent years—is capturing attention at home. India's pickleball story began quietly in 1999, when Sunil Valavalkar, now regarded as the

"father of Indian pickleball," first encountered the sport on an Indo-Canadian youth exchange in British Columbia. He returned to India in 2007-2008 and introduced the game at summer camps, small courts, and demos across Mumbai suburbs.