Mumbai, India – In a country where cricket dominates and football comes in second place, pickleball is quietly but surely carving out its place – not just as a recreational activity but also as a community sport.

In the past two years, pickleball has gained popularity in several major Indian cities, especially Mumbai and Bengaluru, attracting players from children to the elderly.

Pickleball was invented in 1965 as a backyard children’s game in the United States, and is now played professionally around the world. A combination of tennis, badminton and table tennis, pickleball is easy to pick up and play with.

It’s a great workout without the physical intensity of tennis, and is perfect for seniors and those looking for a low-impact or social workout.

For Parnika Waghmare, a resident of Thane, near Mumbai, pickleball has helped foster community interaction.

“I reconnected with my old friends through pickleball,” said architect Wagmire.

The 28-year-old loved tennis, but never got the chance to play competitively. Pickleball offered her the chance to get back on the field.

“Even though I am not in good shape, I can play easily,” she told Al Jazeera after the two-hour pickleball session. “I plan to play every weekend to maintain my fitness, and I hope to compete in local tournaments.”

Waghmare was one of about 15 people who turned up on Sunday morning to play pickleball on an outdoor court at Sharadchandraji Pawar Mini Stadium TMC in Thane.

Sujay Kumar, 53, a businessman and long-time badminton player, has signed up for twice-weekly training classes at the court.

“I had a back injury recently, which forced me to take a break from badminton, so I picked up pickleball,” Kumar said.

“I played for a month, and it was great. There’s a pickleball community, which isn’t the case with badminton. I met about 20 new people,” he added.

What is pickleball?

Pickleball is played on a badminton-sized court with a low-profile, modified tennis net, making it suitable for both indoor and outdoor play.

Players use a hard paddle usually made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated plastic ball, which is about the same size as a baseball but considerably lighter.

The craze for the sport initially began in upscale areas of Mumbai – Bandra, Andheri, Gurgaon and Nariman Point – and is now slowly spreading to other parts of India’s second most populous city with a population of around 20 million.

“The low barrier to entry makes it very easy for anyone to love the sport,” said Chirag Shrivastav, co-founder of Elev8 Sports, which organizes pickleball rallies.

In urban centers of India, pickleball has become a popular choice for weekend activities. Friends gather during a game, or young couples plan “pickleball dates.” Pickleball gatherings are also used as a networking tool.

“Earlier, it was tennis or squash that connected investors or industrialists, but now they gather around pickleball,” Shrivastav said.

Mumbai may be the home of Indian pickleball, but the game is becoming increasingly popular in Bengaluru in southern India.

The bustling city of 14 million is widely known as India’s “Silicon Valley” for its lavish, high-tech global software companies. Pickleball is echoed here.

Yashodan Nakhare, a former national-level junior tennis player, has been playing pickleball four times a week for six months in Bengaluru’s upscale Indiranagar neighborhood, part of a small group called the “Pickle Ricklers.”

“There are six of us running the Pickle Ricklers team, but at least 26 to 27 people in our community play at the top level. We participate in tournaments and organize our own friendly mini tournaments,” said the 24-year-old, who works at a consulting firm.

Companies are also seeing the magic of pickleball, using it as a tool to market their products.

Local Ferment Co (LFC), a beverage maker in Bengaluru, organized a pickleball party for 30 people in October, hosting them for an hour-and-a-half in an indoor sports arena.

Participants, selected after an application process, played pickleball and drank kombucha and ginger beer.

“We now have a WhatsApp community called ‘Dink and Drink’ with all the people who have come to play and others who are interested. The club has about 70 to 80 members,” said Tarini Thakur, head of brand and culture at Liverpool FC.

“We try to arrange pickleball games every now and then. It’s a great way to meet our customers and have them try our drinks in an organic environment.”

Turn pro

While many are drawn to pickleball because of its entertainment appeal, others see it as a path to professional success.

Vrushali Thakare, who hails from Jalgaon in northern Maharashtra, has been playing pickleball since 2017 and represents India.

Her desire to compete professionally led her to move to Mumbai permanently. This month she won a gold and silver medal at the Hong Kong World Pickleball Championships.

“I feel motivated to play pickleball professionally because it provides financial stability,” Thackeray said. “Career-wise, it has become a good option for athletes.”

Like Thakare, Sonu Vishwakarma moved to Mumbai from Dhanbad, Jharkhand, to focus on his professional pickleball career.

The 22-year-old said interest in pickleball has skyrocketed after the 2022 Bainbridge Cup, the first international pickleball event to be held in India, which is named after the birthplace of the sport.

“The prize money was $50,000, which is a huge amount for pickleball in India,” Vishwakarma said. “Since that tournament, there has been no end to the growing popularity of pickleball, and even we players have gained great fame.”

Thakare and Vishwakarma are among the many players supported by the All India Pickleball Association (AIPA). Its president, Arvind Prabhu, says the AIBA plans to spread the sport to every corner of India.

“The long-term vision is the Olympics,” Prabhu said. “If that is the case, pickleball can only be considered for inclusion in the 2032 or 2036 Olympics. So we have time to prepare. … All the 12-year-olds we are coaching now will be eligible to compete by then.”

At the elite level, pickleball is enjoying unprecedented momentum in India, and next month Mumbai will host the country’s first international pickleball league, the World Pickleball League.

The inaugural season will feature six teams, mix local talent with international players, and aims to attract participants from around 15 countries.

“The purpose of this league is to achieve commercial success and grow the pickleball ecosystem in India,” said Gaurav Natekar, co-founder of the league.

“We want to do what the Indian Premier League has done for hundreds of players,” he said, referring to cricket’s richest tournament.

The future of Pickleball in India

One of the major obstacles to the continued growth of pickleball in India is the lack of adequate infrastructure.

There is a huge gap between the number of stadiums and the demand for playing, but Natekar believes this is a “good problem to have” for stakeholders, who are already working to build more stadiums. According to Prabhu, Mumbai has nearly 500 courts while it is expected to cross 200 in Bengaluru in the next three months.

There is also a perception that some members of the urban elite want to keep baseball as an exclusive sport, a factor that fuels its aspirational value to newcomers and the challenges it faces in becoming more accessible.

“Partly the rich want to keep it an exclusive sport and preserve the image of the game,” Prabhu explained.

“There are clubs in Mumbai where only rich people play, and foreigners are not allowed to play. They form a group and play. … They want to keep it that way. Here comes the aspirational value of someone who is not very rich and wants to make it big,” he added.

As pickleball continues to gain momentum in India, it has become more than just a sport. It is a bridge connecting diverse urban communities and an avenue for aspiring athletes who dream of global recognition.