Sports

As we write this, the Indian Premier League 2026 is in full swing, building toward its finale. Cricket grips Bhārat like nothing else, and her men’s and women’s teams have won on every international stage, from the men’s 2025 Champions Trophy and 2026 T20 World Cup to the women’s maiden ODI World Cup title in 2025. But cricket did not originate here. Kabaddi, polo, kho-kho, and kushti did, born from this land’s warrior traditions and village rhythms, and now played far beyond her borders.

As we write this, eight of the world’s greatest chess players are locked in battle at a resort in Pegeia, Cyprus, for the right to challenge Gukesh Dommaraju, the reigning World Chess Champion. The 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament is midway through its fourteen rounds, and already producing the kind of drama that makes the game irresistible. But few of the spectators watching online will pause to consider that this game, this ancient contest of kings and strategy, was born in Bhārat, perhaps as many as 1,500 years ago, in the courts of the Gupta Empire.