Tennis but not quite: Pickleball gains ground in India, riding a pandemic-born craze

A video of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna created quite a furore among the Indian tennis community in early February. For the first time since that emotional afternoon at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park, in the 2023 Australian Open mixed doubles final, where Mirza played her last Grand Slam match, the two legends had paired up for a special match in Mumbai. But it wasn't quite like a tennis match.

The set-up was a tad bit different. Instead of a racquet, they held a paddle, sort of an enlarged version of a table tennis bat. The court was smaller, without a doubles alley, almost the measurements of a badminton arena. The net was lower, on the ground, to be precise, just like in a tennis match, with the remaining aspects, at first glimpse of it, more or less like the same sport where Mirza claimed six majors.

Bopanna, who lifted his maiden men's doubles Grand Slam two months ago and Mirza, were trying their hands at pickleball, ahead of the start of the Indian Open tournament in Worli. The veterans of tennis were accompanied by a few Bollywood stars. Global Sports, the organisers of what is claimed to be the most prestigious indigenous event in the sport, were looking to promote pickleball. The sport is slowly but steadily gaining ground in the country.

Not often has picking up a sport become a global trend, let alone a national one. The advent of social media has given the world more access to mesmerising sporting videos, whether of superstars or budding talents, which often left fans clicking on the like, share and rewind options. But pickleball has emerged as a fever in itself, sans any self-produced stars.

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What's in it in pickleball?

One of the primary reasons behind the game's rising popularity has been the convenience of play. While there are designated courts for carrying out pickleball matches, it can also be played at your building play area or in a garage or even an airport waiting lounge, as was seen in a recent viral video.

It is usually played on a tennis-style hard court, but with layering, or some venues just roll put a mat. It can also be played at your building play area or in a garage or even an airport waiting lounge, as in a recent viral video.

The other factor is that it is a sport for all - regardless of age and athleticism. According to a Sports and Fitness Industry report from 2022, 52 per cent of the core pickleball players are 55 or older, and almost a third (32.7%) are 65-plus. Moreover, unlike in badminton, tennis or table tennis, the sport is easy to pick up and less technical.

“Since it is a game a person of every age group can play, the serves and the strokes required are not too intense. In tennis, for instance, you need high intensity, you need to learn big serves. This game is not based on any specific stroke,” said Mumbai-based pro pickleball player Harsh Mehta, who is also a national-level table tennis player.

“This is more of a strategic game. You need to have patience and consistency. So the strokes are not a big factor in learning the game. There are other factors, mainly strategic and technical, which you need to learn. So it does not require a lot of effort round the year. For example, if you want to start playing pickleball, you won't require a seven or eight-year training period like others. Players who already have played an active sport before, like tennis, squash, table tennis or badminton can pick it up pretty easily," said the 25-year-old.

Harsh was a regular at the Khar Gymkhana in Mumbai, where he used to play table tennis, until 2018, when he had a chance meeting with pickleball, a newly-introduced sport at the venue. At the request of a few friends, the MBA student tried his hand at pickleball and then "just got hooked to it" ever since. He later won the bronze at the national-level tournament in pickleball and more recently, claimed the silver in men's doubles in the Indian Open 2024.

The final factor is affordability. The starting price of a paddle ranges from INR 3000 to 4000, while the whiff ball, a perforated plastic ball, costs roughly around INR 100 to 200.

But the question of 'What's in it in pickleball' was perfectly summed up by Bollywood writer-director Shashank Khaitan, who is also a partner at Global Sports. "It's highly addictive," he said, concurring with Harsh. "Once you start playing it, you actually start thinking about the game and you kind of start missing it on the days that you are not playing."

The pickleball craze in India

The cricket-frenzied nation was introduced to this hybrid sport in the late 2000s, with Sunil Valavalkar, founder-director of the All India Pickleball Association (AIPA), playing the central character. While his relentless efforts, from introducing it to the general public to organising tournaments, did see some progress in the country, albeit at a snail's pace, the craze truly began during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I started hearing about the game in the lockdown. I hadn't ever played it but I started seeing some videos that sprung up online,” said Khaitan, known for films like Dhadak and Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani.

Khaitan, who found an instant connection with pickleball owing to his "strong background in tennis", was not just hooked to the game as a player but admitted that he wanted to be in the business part. Hence, around March 2023, he joined Global Sports as a partner.

"The company was launched about two and a half years ago. I became a partner in March last year. Initially, they were the ones who were safeguarding and running the game of pickleball in Mumbai. It was happening in a couple of centres in Juhu and Borivali. Small scales, of course. After I decided to partner with them, the idea was to really build the sport in a very sustainable matter and make it as big as we can and grow the sport as big as we can," he said.

The 42-year-old used his Bollywood connections to the best of his advantage, inviting stars to various tournaments, in a bid to market the sport. But Global Sports has been more than just that.

“We made it a point to reinvest in courts, make a lot of courts in Mumbai and run the game, even at the grassroot level. We also help kids in coaching with equipment so that everyone who thinks of pickleball can find the center next to them and start playing the game. Also, as the ripple effect of the marketing that we did, as more and more people across the country started hearing of the game and doing their research, they realised that it's a game which is not very investment heavy. It can be done in an easier way, and it can be made at a very affordable budget," Khaitan said.

"Naturally, more and more things started springing up and that kind of really helped us to reach our target audiences, make the game more popular. What really took effort was to get influencers with some kind of mass appeal to be seen at a pickleball match, holding a paddle or maybe even hit a few shots. Today, a year later, a lot more people around the world are aware of pickleball, even if they haven't played it yet.”

Pickleball, a career option in India?

Besides being increasingly popular in Mumbai and Delhi, pickleball has also found its way into states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka and even Gujarat. However, the sport is far from becoming a career option in India but it is definitely on its way.

Global Sports have already taken a step towards making players realise that there is more than just sheer "addiction" to playing pickleball.

"We have already signed some 16 of India's best players. We are giving them exposure to international tournaments, to tournaments across India. A lot of them have also started making money in the process. In the next one month, we are tying up with multiple brands across the world, where athletes will actually start getting paid on a yearly basis and they will start seeing central contracts coming in for them. Their dream of making a career out of it should come true, maybe in a month's time," Khaitan said.