Former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has taken a decisive step in shaping the future of padel in India by merging his consumer-facing brand, 7Padel MS Dhoni, with PadelPark India. The strategic unification marks the creation of a single, nationwide platform aimed at accelerating the growth of one of India’s fastest-emerging sports through structured expansion, community-led participation, and professional governance.

Announced on Wednesday, the merger brings together Dhoni’s growing involvement in padel with what is currently the country’s most extensive padel ecosystem. At a time when the sport is transitioning from a niche activity to mainstream participation, the move signals a clear intent to scale padel beyond metropolitan centres and embed it more deeply into India’s sporting landscape.

A Unified National Platform for Rapid Growth

The merged entity has been designed as a unified national platform capable of supporting rapid scale, deeper community engagement, and a more professionally structured format for padel across India. By combining 7Padel MS Dhoni’s consumer outreach with PadelPark India’s end-to-end ecosystem, the partnership aims to create consistency in how the sport is played, taught, and experienced nationwide.

PadelPark India has already earned institutional confidence. Since August 2024, Parth Jindal, founder of JSW Sports, has been one of the early investors in the platform. With Dhoni now joining as a partner in the merged entity, the backing behind the initiative has further strengthened, positioning it as a defining catalyst for padel’s next phase of growth in India.

The company described the merger as a pivotal moment that aligns vision, infrastructure, and leadership to establish padel as a long-term sporting option rather than a passing trend.

Dhoni’s Vision: Taking Padel Beyond the Metros

Speaking about the partnership, MS Dhoni highlighted India’s strong base of racquet-sport players and padel’s natural compatibility with the country’s sporting culture.

“In a country with over 10 million racquet sport players, Tier-1 cities have already shown how quickly padel can grow,” Dhoni said in an official release. “The next step is taking that momentum into newer markets and making the sport accessible beyond the metros.”

Dhoni believes that padel’s inherent characteristics make it particularly suited to India. Played primarily in doubles, the sport is social, community-driven, and easy to pick up, qualities that resonate strongly with Indian players.

“Once courts are available, people will take to it naturally,” he added. “Padel is social, it’s played in doubles, and it’s built around community, which suits India. And with PadelPark India’s 360° ecosystem—from courts and coaching to tournaments and community programmes—we can scale with consistency and build padel as a professionally run sport across the country.”

More Than a Partnership: A Shared Philosophy

For Nikhil Sachdev, co-founder of PadelPark India, the merger represents far more than a commercial agreement. According to him, the unification reflects a shared belief in how padel should be developed in India—carefully, inclusively, and with long-term credibility.

“This unification represents more than a partnership; it marks a shared belief in how padel should grow in India,” Sachdev said. “Bringing 7Padel MS Dhoni together with PadelPark India creates a single, aligned platform capable of elevating standards, strengthening participation, and building long-term credibility for the sport.”

Sachdev also emphasised the value Dhoni brings beyond brand recognition. “Dhoni’s leadership, values, and clarity of thought add tremendous depth to our mission. Together, we now have the structure, vision, and momentum to define the future of padel in India.”

Inside PadelPark India’s Expanding Ecosystem

Founded by Nikhil Sachdev, Jigar Doshi, Pratik Doshi, and Ronak Daftary, PadelPark India has quietly built the country’s most comprehensive padel infrastructure. The organisation currently operates over 40 owned and managed courts and has contributed to a broader footprint of more than 200 padel courts delivered across India.

The group has ambitious plans for the year ahead. Over the next 12 months, PadelPark India aims to expand aggressively to 400–500 courts, significantly increasing access to world-class padel facilities across both metropolitan and emerging markets.

Beyond physical infrastructure, the platform operates a complete 360-degree ecosystem. This includes SkyPadel for infrastructure development, competitive opportunities through the Indian Padel Tour, and grassroots as well as elite training via the Indian Padel Academy, which is run in collaboration with Westlife Foodworld. The platform is also home to Bullpadel India, the exclusive distributor of Bullpadel products in the country, while 7Padel MS Dhoni serves as the customer-facing brand.

This integrated model is designed to ensure that players at every level—from beginners to competitive athletes—have a clear and consistent pathway into the sport.

India’s Padel Boom Reflects a Global Trend

The timing of the merger aligns with padel’s rapid rise both globally and within India. According to the World Padel Report 2025, released in December 2024 by the International Padel Federation (FIP), the sport has crossed 77,300 courts worldwide, spanning 150 countries. The figures underscore padel’s sustained global momentum and its growing appeal across diverse markets.

India’s growth curve mirrors this acceleration. Industry tracking shows that the country moved swiftly from early adoption to meaningful scale in a short period. From approximately 70 courts in 2023, India expanded to around 100 courts by mid-2024, and has now crossed 300 courts nationwide, reflecting how quickly the sport is gaining traction in both metropolitan hubs and emerging cities.

The last quarter marked a particularly significant phase for padel’s international standing. In November 2025, the International Padel Federation and its continental body, Padel Asia, announced that padel has been officially recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). The sport will now feature as an official discipline in upcoming editions of the Asian Games, a milestone that adds further legitimacy and visibility to padel’s global journey.

Positioning Padel for Long-Term Success in India

With MS Dhoni’s involvement and a rapidly expanding infrastructure base, the newly merged platform is positioning itself at the centre of padel’s next chapter in India. The focus is clear: balancing accessibility with professionalism, fostering community participation while maintaining high standards, and ensuring the sport’s growth is both scalable and sustainable.

By uniting 7Padel MS Dhoni and PadelPark India, the organisation aims to move padel decisively beyond novelty and into the realm of structured, mainstream sport. The merger seeks to build a model where courts are widely available, coaching is consistent, competition pathways are clear, and communities form naturally around the game.

As India continues to embrace padel at an unprecedented pace, the partnership between one of the country’s most respected sporting figures and its most extensive padel ecosystem could prove to be a defining force—one that shapes how the sport is played, governed, and experienced for years to come.

With inputs from agencies

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