World's oldest stadium to reclaiming chess: India's sporting journey

India has a population of over 1.4 billion people. So why, people often ask, isn’t it a sporting superpower? It’s a refrain so familiar that if we earned a dollar every time we heard it, India might have a bigger sports budget than any country on earth. But the question hides a more complex reality. It assumes that quantity automatically leads to quality. Beneath it lies a web of pride, expectations and national duty.

In India, sports is not merely a pastime. For some, it’s a ticket out of poverty. For others, it’s a pathway to fame and respect. To understand why India’s sports story is the way it is, we need to travel back—deep into the country’s past—to trace its roots, its highs, its lows and its rebirth.

Ancient proof that India was always a sporting land

Contrary to the claim that India lacks a sporting culture, history says otherwise. The evidence lies in the ruins of Dholavira, Gujarat. In 2004, archaeologists uncovered something extraordinary there: the remains of an ancient stadium measuring roughly 800 feet in length and capable of hosting 10,000 spectators. Historians believe it to be the oldest known stadium in the world, dating back almost 4,000 years.

Back then, India’s games weren’t cricket, tennis, or football. People played indigenous sports like kabaddi, kho-kho and atya-patya. These weren’t just games of brute force—they demanded quick reflexes and sharp strategic thinking. And, of course, India also gave the world chess. Known in its earliest form as chaturanga, the game originated here and travelled the globe. Today, the sport is coming full circle: the current world chess champion is an Indian teenager, part of a new generation making their mark.

British bring their games

Yet when you say “sports” today, most people think of cricket, football, or tennis. All of these arrived in India via the British during the colonial era. At first, these games were the exclusive preserve of white officers, who set up racially segregated clubs. Indians were allowed only to watch from the sidelines.

Over time, the British allowed Indians to participate, not out of generosity, but because they believed sport could help “civilise” the local population. Still, access remained restricted to the nobility and Indian soldiers in the British Army. For the masses, playing these sports was an unattainable dream—one that would slowly begin to change.

Sport as a nationalist weapon

When change came, it carried a wave of nationalism. On the playing field, Indians could beat their colonial masters, even if they couldn’t in politics. One such moment of pride arrived in 1911, when Mohun Bagan, an Indian football club, reached the final of the IFA Shield to face the unbeaten East Yorkshire Regiment. A crowd of around 100,000 people gathered for the match. Mohun Bagan triumphed, handing the British a rare defeat. One newspaper captured the sentiment perfectly: “Mohun Bagan has done what the Indian National Congress could not.” It was a moment that shattered the myth of British invincibility.

Golden age of Indian hockey

If victories in football were rare, hockey was a different story. Brought to India by the British in the mid-19th century, hockey found fertile ground in the country’s open fields. In 1855, Calcutta saw the birth of its first hockey club. Yet it wasn’t until 1925, when the Indian Hockey Federation was formed, that the country could compete internationally. The following year, the team toured New Zealand and won 18 out of 20 matches.

In 1928, India made its Olympic debut in Amsterdam. The team did not concede a single goal and defeated the Netherlands in the final to win gold. That victory sparked one of the most extraordinary streaks in sports history: Olympic gold medals in 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952 and 1956. India remained undefeated until the final of the 1960 Games. It was truly the golden age of Indian hockey.

Cricket’s long road to glory

While hockey flourished, cricket lagged behind despite being introduced in the early 1700s. Cricket demanded more than just open space—it required expensive equipment and structured facilities. Regional tournaments emerged in the 1800s, and by the early 1900s, Indian teams began touring England. In 1911, a side led by the Maharaja of Patiala travelled there, but they played only county teams, not the national side.

The First World War halted progress, but in 1926 India joined the International Cricket Council and gained Test status. In 1932, India played its first Test match against England at Lord’s—without victory. The country’s first Test win came only in 1952, against England in Chennai. A year later, India claimed its first series win against Pakistan. Yet cricket remained in hockey’s shadow until 1983.

1983: The year that changed everything

In 1983, under Kapil Dev’s leadership, India stunned the cricketing world by defeating the mighty West Indies to win the World Cup in England. Nobody expected it—not even most Indians. The victory turned cricketers into household names and gave the country a new sporting confidence. This momentum carried into the 1990s, when India’s economic liberalisation brought new wealth, globalisation and corporate sponsorships into cricket. Brands raced to sign players, buy ad slots, and get their names into stadiums.

In 2007, a young Indian side won the first-ever T20 World Cup in South Africa. The following year, the Indian Premier League was launched, quickly growing into one of the richest sports leagues in the world, valued at around $18 billion today. Cricket had gone from colonial pastime to national obsession—and India now effectively runs the sport globally.

Struggle of other sports

While cricket soared, other sports struggled. In 1947, India’s sporting infrastructure consisted largely of colonial stadiums and dusty fields. The focus in the early years of independence was on nation-building, not sports. Yet remarkable athletes still emerged. Milkha Singh, the “Flying Sikh,” became the first Indian to win Commonwealth Games gold in the late 1950s and narrowly missed an Olympic medal in 1960. Kamaljeet Sandhu became the first Indian woman to win gold at the Asian Games in 1970.

These athletes succeeded in spite of the system, not because of it. Change began in the 1980s when India hosted the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi, finishing fifth overall. The Games spurred the construction of multi-purpose stadiums, synthetic tracks and modern shooting ranges. In 1984, the Sports Authority of India was established to scout and train talent. By the 1990s, cable television and sponsorships began to benefit other sports as well. In 2000, a dedicated Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports was formed.

Mixed fortunes at the Olympics

Despite these efforts, India’s Olympic performances remained inconsistent: one medal in 2004, three in 2008, six in 2012, two in 2016, seven at Tokyo 2020, and six at Paris 2024. The problem has rarely been talent—it’s the lack of a structured pipeline to nurture it.

In recent years, India has made systemic efforts to fix this. The Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) was launched in 2014 to support elite athletes. In 2017, the Khelo India Games were introduced, bringing together school and college athletes from across the nation in a youth-Olympics-style format. The ultimate goal? Hosting the 2036 Summer Olympics.

From dusty maidans to Olympic dreams

India’s sporting journey stretches from the world’s oldest stadium in Dholavira to reclaiming its chess legacy, from indigenous games to colonial imports, from hockey’s golden run to cricket’s global dominance. Alongside, individual champions have emerged in athletics, boxing, wrestling, badminton, and beyond. The hope now is that with better infrastructure, systemic support, and grassroots development, India can finally match its population size with consistent international success.

If 2036 does see the Olympic torch lit on Indian soil, it will mark the culmination of a remarkable arc—from dusty maidans to glittering stadiums. And perhaps, along the way, it will silence that old question for good.