Mumbai Calling: A Pickleball Journey into India’s Sporting Megacity
By Gordon Watson, Chief Correspondent
Arriving in Mumbai is an experience that hits you all at once: colour, sound, movement, and energy on a scale few cities in the world can match. Home to more than 20 million people in its metropolitan region, the sheer size of India’s financial capital is staggering. Skyscrapers rise beside colonial architecture, street vendors line roads beneath giant billboards, and traffic flows in a rhythm that somehow feels chaotic and perfectly choreographed at the same time.
For a travelling pickleball enthusiast, however, Mumbai offers something even more remarkable: a city that has embraced the sport with astonishing speed. While cricket remains king — an almost sacred national obsession — pickleball has surged into second place in terms of participation and buzz, transforming parks, clubs, rooftops, and recreation centres into thriving courts from dawn until late into the night.
Mumbai has quickly become one of the world’s emerging capitals of the sport. It is home to the prestigious World Pickleball League, alongside a growing calendar of elite competitions including World Pickleball Championship tournaments and major events staged by Global Sports.
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These tournaments draw international professionals, rising Asian stars, and a passionate local fan base eager to witness the sport’s rapid evolution. In many ways, Mumbai feels like a glimpse into pickleball’s future: fast, youthful, and unmistakably global.
My own trips have blended both sides of the sport. Evenings were spent behind the microphone at the World Pickleball Championship and last year’s World Pickleball League Season One events, calling matches under bright lights as packed crowds cheered every rally. The atmosphere was electric, part sporting contest, part festival, with music, lights, and an enthusiasm that rarely dips.
But daytime belonged to the courts.
Mumbai’s playing culture is unlike anywhere else. Matches begin early to beat the heat, yet games continue throughout the day in shaded complexes, indoor facilities, and, most memorably, on rooftops towering above the city.
One unforgettable morning my fellow commentator Jeanette Ward Quinn took us to Bandra West, a vibrant coastal neighbourhood known for its cafés, street art, and sweeping views of the Arabian Sea. There, perched atop a building, was a pickleball court with the skyline stretching endlessly in every direction, a scene that perfectly captured Mumbai’s blend of ambition and improvisation.
As we stepped onto the court to play with our friends, paddles in hand, we discovered we weren’t alone. Playing on the other court were none other than Indian champion and rising global star Armaan Bhatia and top player Harsh Mehta.
Bhatia, widely tipped as a future Major League Pickleball standout, demonstrated why India is producing world-class talent at a remarkable rate. The pace, precision, and confidence of the local players showed that Mumbai isn’t just participating in the global pickleball movement; it’s helping drive it.
That morning was one we would never forget, the spirit of Mumbai pickleball, intense rallies, laughter between points, and a shared understanding that the sport is building something special in the city.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of pickleball in Mumbai is accessibility. Courts appear in unexpected places, games are organised through social media groups at all hours, and newcomers are welcomed with open arms. A simple Google search will find you surrounded by map pins in moments. The sport has become a social connector in a city known for its relentless pace.
As night falls, floodlit matches resume, traffic continues its symphony below, and somewhere high above the streets, another rooftop game begins.
For travelling players, Mumbai offers more than competition; it offers immersion in a city where sport, culture, and energy collide. Cricket may still dominate the national psyche, but pickleball’s rise here feels unstoppable.
From world-class tournaments to spontaneous rooftop games, Mumbai has become a destination every serious pickleball fan should experience at least once.
Because in this vast, vibrant metropolis, the message is clear:
If you love pickleball, Mumbai will meet you at the net.
Read more: Follow the latest global pickleball news, explore tournaments, and browse India coverage.
Chris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at all levels of pickleball. Chris is also an avid player, currently struggling to make the breakthrough from 4.0 to 4.5.