India’s Pickleball Explosion EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Inside Day 4 of the Debut Pickleball League Season

Oneindia

India’s pickleball wave is here—and growing faster than ever. In this exclusive interview, Pickleball League President Sameer Pathak takes us inside Day 4 of the debut season, breaking down the surge in participation, the energy on the courts, and how this new-age sport is capturing the nation’s imagination.    #PickleballIndia #PickleballLeague #PickleballRevolution #IndiaSportsRise #PickleballSeason1 #Day4Highlights #PickleballInterview #SameerPathak #PickleballCraze #NewSportIndia #RacquetSportsIndia #PickleballGrowth #PickleballNation #SportsInIndia #InauguralPickleballLeague #PickleballTrending #IndiaSports2025 #PickleballUpdate #PickleballFans #PickleballBuzz  ~PR.152~HT.408~GR.122~

Transcript

00:00Indian Pickleball League is going on and we are having here Samir Patek sir it's nice to meet you

00:15sir thank you for having me my first question is what inspired you for the pickable league the

00:21pickleball as a game is growing very fast it's with the fastest game in the world and also in

00:29India the number of players that are entering the number of people that are enjoying the game

00:34has grown by leaps and bounds so it is the vision of the MD of the group mr. Vinit Jain who came up

00:41with an idea of Indian Pickleball League because it's important to have an aspirational platform

00:46for a game that is as popular as our becoming popular as pickleball if you have an aspirational

00:51platform everybody wants to be part of a platform like this it only inspires more growth and that's

00:55the genesis of the birth of Indian Pickleball League having successfully launched the global

01:01chess league how does that experience help you shape the strategy of the Indian Pickleball League

01:05while both the games are different one is played over a table the other is played over or or a field

01:11but principles of any league remain the same it's the stakeholders which is the team owners players

01:17the broadcasters the sponsors that fundamental equation remains the same so having learned a lot

01:23from global chess league all those learnings were deployed and and modified as needed to build the

01:29the foundation of Indian Pickleball League pickleball is still new to many people in India from your

01:35experience in sports what make it strong to next big stage no it's a very good question

01:41of see the biggest of advantage of pickleball is that it's very open it is a game that anybody can pick up

01:50and begin even if you have been a badminton player a table tennis player a squash player or even a tennis

01:56player the game is easier to pick up but if you have not been any sport even then the game is very

02:01easy to pick up I think that is what is leading to the to the fast track growth of the sport in this

02:06country and how has the response been from corporates athletes and partners since the league was

02:12announced oh it has been phenomenal we've sold out all our teams we have a queue for the next set of

02:18teams in the country the players are excited I'm hearing every day from players that they want

02:23to be part of this league or how can they be part of this league we've got lots of sponsors I'm

02:27thankful to Adani I'm thankful to Delhi tourism I'm thankful to all the partners we have who have

02:33joined us in season one and I think we're only going to go from strength to strength what will

02:37make Indian pickleball league different from the emerging sports leagues in India the professionalism and

02:43the foundation of the league is very solid it's backed by a media giant like times group so the

02:49visibility is never going to be in doubt the profile is never going to be in doubt and that it is one

02:55of the fastest growing games in the world it only adds that much more heft to the to the opportunity

03:01and putting all these things together where the players want to be part of it the game is growing

03:05very fast times group is backing it team owners are excited everything putting together there's no

03:10stopping the Indian pickleball league how are you planning to involve young players schools and

03:16communities through the IP bill thank you for asking that we in fact are going to invite about

03:21500 children from schools nearby and around NCR every day to come and witness the league and enjoy and

03:29in fact meet some of the players as well so you'll see or anyway a lot of university students are coming

03:34when are also school students will start coming it's really a great opportunity yeah absolutely and

03:39what milestone will define success for season in IP bill viewership partnership brands etc I think

03:46getting it off the ground and making sure that it's the first and a successful Indian official pickleball

03:52league for us that was the first milestone to get it in place that now having crossed that threshold

03:57what we are looking forward to is how's the engagement been what's the interest level in in sponsors in

04:04team owners what's the feedback from players and team owners all of that put together will determine

04:09the success metric and finally where do you see pickleball in India in next three to four years I

04:14think the game has tremendous potential it has the potential to be the probably the top two or top

04:20three most popular games in the next few years if it isn't the same rocket ship which we believe it

04:25is on a lot of badminton courts tennis courts are being converted to pickleball court so that that

04:31the baseline is already established and is just going to grow from there we are very excited I would

04:36not want to speculate but I see this game being on top two top three in the country in not in not very

04:43distant future okay apart from this serious conversation let's have some chit chat questions sure do you

04:49remember when you first played pickleball yes I played pickleball about year and a half back okay

04:57and how was it it was fun I lost and I kept losing for about first three times and the fourth time I won

05:04my first game I clearly remember it I thought it was easier because it looked easy but when I started

05:11playing with some of the former tennis players who had picked up pickleball I was I felt high it wasn't

05:17as easy but it's fun to play I think it's it I was quick to grab I was able to get a few points

05:24I don't think if I start any other sport I'll be able to get a few points of anyone so

05:29I remember that as part of that it was easy to start and I could get some wins in my pocket

05:35because that is what drove my further interest okay if you have to describe pickleball in one word

05:40healthy lifestyle oh nice it's absolutely needed by everyone everyone should have to go on it and

05:52play in a usual lifestyle also correct it is it has to be part of your healthy lifestyle yeah you

05:57have worked across many sports which sports have taught you the most about leadership all sports are

06:03part of uh leadership there is not a single sport you learn from team sport you learn how to lead a team

06:08yeah from individual sport you learn how to be mentally very strong uh from being in a leadership

06:15position at different places you get to learn so much that's why a lot of sports persons and coaches

06:20are in high demand as guest speakers is because sport by itself uh has a lot of a lot of learnings

06:27and when you work with players uh the top players in the world either be cricketers footballers chess players

06:33or pickleball players anyone everyone's effort the way they put the discipline the the the effort that

06:41they put behind this all of it it is something to learn from so uh being in sport is a constant

06:46like being in a university of uh of leadership you always learn so i i can't put myself in a but i've

06:52learned a lot from various people i've learned a lot from various players uh what has been your

06:56favorite behind the scene movement from your sports career so far most it's always been um it's the

07:04first point that is scored when you look when you work on it for months or years uh and when you see

07:12the first point scored that that is the biggest joy you sit and watch and relax because all of this

07:19wasn't built up to that first point right and when the first point is scored after that the tournament

07:24has actually begun uh for me that first point is very sacred i always sit quietly and watch it in

07:30the corner the silent person yeah that first point has been scored thank you sami sir for sharing your

07:35insights your lifestyle and everything with us it's nice talking to you thank you so much

07:42subscribe to one india and never miss an update

07:47download the one india app now

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended