‘Starting to pay off’: Anand Mahindra praises India’s non-cricketing sporting success

3 min readNew DelhiJun 29, 2026 11:04 PM IST

Anand Mahindra highlighted a range of sports in which Indian athletes have made significant achievements

Industrialist Anand Mahindra highlighted that India’s growing competitiveness across disciplines beyond cricket is a sign that years of sustained investment in sports are beginning to bear fruit.

In a post shared on X on Monday, Mahindra acknowledged India’s recent cricketing setback but urged people to look at the bigger picture.

“Yes, we had a disappointing weekend in cricket. But at the same time, I often find myself rubbing my eyes in disbelief at India’s growing competitiveness in sports where I never imagined we’d even be globally competitive,” he wrote.

Mahindra highlighted a range of sports in which Indian athletes have made significant achievements in recent years, including volleyball, fencing, gymnastics, rowing, and athletics.

While noting that India is “far from the top step of the podium yet,” he said the country’s progress across multiple disciplines points to a broader transformation in the sporting ecosystem.

“Something’s clearly changing at the ground level,” Mahindra added. He further credited years of efforts by both state and central governments in sports infrastructure and athlete development.

“Years of effort by governments, both state and central, (outstanding example being Odisha) along with private sector organisations like OGQ and many others, may finally be starting to pay off. But it is the individual sportspersons, this new generation of champions with grit, resilience and self-belief, who are my #MondayMotivation,” he added.

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Yes, we had a disappointing weekend in cricket.

But at the same time, I often find myself rubbing my eyes in disbelief at India’s growing competitiveness in sports where I never imagined we’d even be globally competitive.

Volleyball. Fencing. Gymnastics. Rowing. Athletics. The… https://t.co/rDb8fvpbCq pic.twitter.com/XOCNyBxBas

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) June 29, 2026

The post resonated with several social media users, with one noting, “Hockey too. The confidence and the charismatic play is on full display.”

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“Absolutely but can’t believe our system support athletes!! Few governments like Odisha exceptions,” another user commented. “The Odisha model is underrated. State-level conviction plus private infrastructure like OGQ is probably the template, and the question is how many other states actually copy it,” a third user reacted.