7Padel MS Dhoni, PadelPark India merge to push the sport's growth in the country

Cricket icon MS Dhoni has taken a deeper step into India’s fast-emerging padel scene, with 7Padel MS Dhoni merging with PadelPark India to form a unified national platform aimed at scaling the sport across the country.The move brings together Dhoni’s growing interest in padel with what is currently India’s most extensive padel ecosystem, at a time when the sport is shifting from novelty to mainstream participation.

The merged entity plans to focus on structured expansion, community-led engagement and professional standards, positioning padel as a serious, long-term sporting option in India.PadelPark India has already attracted institutional confidence.

Since August 2024, Parth Jindal, Founder of JSW Sports, has been an early investor in the platform. Dhoni joining as a partner is seen as a further endorsement of the sport’s potential and the ecosystem being built around it.Speaking about the partnership, Dhoni pointed to India’s strong base of racquet-sport players and padel’s natural fit in urban and emerging markets alike. With its doubles format and social nature, he believes padel lends itself well to community play.

“Once courts are available, people will take to it naturally,” Dhoni said, adding that PadelPark India’s end-to-end model — covering infrastructure, coaching, tournaments and community programmes — offers a consistent pathway for growth beyond the metros.PadelPark India co-founder Nikhil Sachdev described the merger as more than a commercial tie-up. According to him, bringing 7Padel MS Dhoni into the fold creates a single, aligned platform capable of raising standards and credibility for the sport nationwide.

He highlighted Dhoni’s leadership and clarity as key strengths that align with the organisation’s long-term vision.Founded by Nikhil Sachdev, Jigar Doshi, Pratik Doshi and Ronak Daftary, PadelPark India currently operates over 40 owned and managed courts and has contributed to the delivery of more than 200 padel courts across the country. The group plans an aggressive expansion over the next year, targeting 400 to 500 courts and significantly widening access to the sport.The timing coincides with padel’s rapid global rise. According to the World Padel Report 2025 released by the International Padel Federation, the sport now boasts over 77,300 courts across 150 countries. India’s growth curve has been similarly steep, with court numbers jumping from around 70 in 2023 to more than 300 nationwide.Momentum has also received a major boost on the international stage. In November 2025, the International Padel Federation and Padel Asia announced that padel has been officially recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and will feature in upcoming editions of the Asian Games.With Dhoni’s involvement and an expanding infrastructure base, the newly merged platform is positioning itself at the centre of padel’s next chapter in India — one that aims to balance accessibility, community participation and professional governance as the sport pushes beyond early adoption.