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With the decline of populist support in host nations, which have increasingly become diverse with several hosts, with not so established sporting culture and heritage struggling to capture the imagination of the masses over the past few editions.
This has led to a decline in the prestige of the event and a steady decline in interest from potential suitors. To rejuvenate the Games and make them more customized for each host nation and their demographic, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has allowed all the subsequent host nations to add certain sports to the Olympics only for their particular edition.
A welcome move that would see the host nations enjoying a somewhat sporting advantage as well as letting the spectators watch their popular sports at the international Olympic level. This would not only increase the interaction between the audience and the sports but also increase its reach to the roots of the country.
Tokyo 2020 has decided to include Karate, Surfing, Baseball/Softball, Skateboarding and Mountain Climbing to the Olympic fold for 2020 as per a statement released on the official Tokyo 2020 website. With India considering hosting the 2032 Olympics, a look at some non-Olympic sports where India has excelled over the years.
#5 Chess
A board game that has been making a recent push to be permanently included into the Olympic fold, chess has its roots in India with it being inspired by Chausar and originated from the India-China heartland.
India has seen several Grandmasters over the years with one of the most legendary players in Padma Vibhushan Vishwanathan Anand dominating the sport at the highest level for several decades.
In a nation obsessed with Cricket, his achievements have by far gone unnoticed but his rise from being India's first Grandmaster to being a world champion in a few years is a wonderful story of grit and dedication.
Even though he has declined over years with age kicking in, there have been several other stalwarts in Indian chess like Koneru Humpy, Harika Dronavalli, and several others.
#4 Snooker
Cue sports have been very popular among India's elites for quite some time, but professional players have been few and far between. But those who have ventured into the sport have made India proud internationally repeatedly.
Pankaj Advani has been one of the flag-bearers of Indian cue sports for several decades now and he has inspired a whole generation to the table with his nonchalant approach to the breaks. His multiple medals at Asian Games along with Geet Sethi have brought laurels to the nation over the years.
On the women's side, Vidya Pillai has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the world rankings and is still active on the circuit. Given their relative age, however, most of these stalwarts won't be active come 2032 but the generation they have initiated into the sport would like to forward the legacy they have left behind.
#3 Squash
While squash might not be an Olympic sport, it is a hugely popular sport in India with India having a rich heritage of great players representing the tricolour. Over the past decade, India's players have done extremely well at the continental level in breaking the dominance of Malaysia over the sport and doing well consistently over the past few tournaments.
India's strong showing at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 2014 and 2018 have been largely due to the brilliance of Deepika Pallikal, Joshna Chinappa and Saurav Ghoshal. All of them have won gold medals at the multinational tournaments either in individual or double categories.
Deepika and Joshna, in particular, have broken the top 10 and have consistently challenged for various tournaments over the year with Deepika having won over 10 titles over the years. Saurav, too, has found wide success in a highly competitive men's circuit and he along with Harvinder Singh Sandhu have also medalled at these Games with him being crowned the Commonwealth Champion earlier this year.
#2 Kabaddi
Till July of this year, India had been undefeated in both Men's and Women's competition internationally. But it all changed at this year's Asian Games and not at the hands of an old foe in Pakistan but by new kids on the block Iran and South Korea.
While the Pro Kabaddi League has brought a revolution for the sport with fame, money and recognition for the athletes, it has been a perfect breeding ground for foreign athletes to breed world class talents. Much like IPL, PKL has brought forward several youngsters to the national focus and has helped create options and competition for the national places.
But you tend to believe that the losses were more a result of complacency than any tectonic shift of power and you would more or less put a Gold in the medal column if it were to be considered for the Olympics.
#1 Cricket
No prizes for guessing this one correctly! The heart, blood and soul of the Indian sporting scene, it is impossible to imagine an Indian Olympics without cricket. Across the formats, India is a force to be reckoned with and while the World Cup is the ultimate crowning glory, the Champions Trophy might be replaced by an Olympic event.
A T20 format event is under consideration even for the Paris Olympics Games which definitely comes as a surprise given France's relative anonymity in Cricket at the highest level.
A limited over event in India definitely plays into India's chances of winning the whole thing especially given how it turned out the last time around (cue:2011 World Cup). The whole nation behind the team for the glory at home soil may be the boost the Games require after all.
