Looking ahead at 2026: Fan experiences, lack of a Test No. 3, political instability – the messes, on and off field, that need cleaning up

I hope the suits who run sports remember this: the game does not breathe in boardrooms, it breathes in the stands. In 2025, two moments laid bare how far fans have slipped down the priority list — both ending in tragedy: a stampede in Bengaluru, then chaos in Kolkata. There were other times when the disregard was less dramatic but just as telling. In Ahmedabad, those trying to catch the India-South Africa T20 action chased water instead. In Delhi, they were lathi-charged for wanting to see Kohli. At the India Open, badminton was watched from broken, filthy chairs. The list is endless. Sport survives because people call in sick at work, spend their last rupee on costly flights and match-day tickets (laying hands on them is another task!) and raise their voices from the stands. The least they deserve is drinkable water, clean toilets, sturdy seats and dignity.

With the hosting rights of the 2030 Commonwealth Games in the pocket, and an active bid for the hosting rights of the 2036 Olympics, India is actively trying to place itself as a favourable sporting destination. However, the memories of the last time India hosted a big international event in the form of the 2010 Commonwealth Games remain fresh. A recent incident at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, where two coaches were bitten by a stray dog led to further embarrassment. The Messi GOAT tour fiasco in Kolkata only added to that, effectively implying that there are visible gaps when it comes to India’s management of big-scale events. The 2026 Badminton World Championships are scheduled in August and will be hosted in New Delhi; one can only hope that there is no moment there that turns into another tale of embarrassment.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest till date with 48 teams, but with the Donald Trump administration imposing partial or total travel bans on citizens of several participating countries, there is uncertainty over who would be allowed in, whether they are fans or officials of national football federations. People from Iran and Haiti, two countries that have qualified for the tournament, are banned from entering the United States. Others like Senegal and Ivory Coast face additional travel restrictions.

This will be the first World Cup co-hosted by three countries – the US, Canada and Mexico – which don’t see eye to eye on all matters. How they and individual US host cities, as well as the federal government, welcome the world would be looked at with interest.

A team that had not been beaten at home since 2012 has been whitewashed twice in two years (New Zealand 3-0 in 2024, South Africa 2-0 in 2025) in their backyard. Although there have been sparkling moments when the inexperienced side managed to square the series in England, the disappointing series against South Africa raised questions about the health of Test cricket in the country.

India failed to reach the WTC Final last year and are placed 6th on the table in the current cycle. Four Tests in Sri Lanka and New Zealand, and one at home against Afghanistan, will be plenty to show if India can improve to be as good in whites as they are in blues.

For 27 years since 1996, India’s premier Test batting greats at No. 4 were guarded with utmost surety by their immediate predecessors. Grafters of assured mind, wrists and feet, the likes of Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara, were products of the domestic game that now lies in bits and pieces. Devoid of a dependable system, the Ranji Trophy cannot immediately produce a clone to fill India’s great No. 3 void anymore.

Even as the top Test nations grip with the falling standards of the No.3, India seems the least equipped in their transition. They have drafted four men in their last nine games under a new captain, and the most recent home debacle only protracted this specific woe. With a largely dormant first semester ahead, India will have time on their hands to prepare and zero in on a No. 3, but will one resounding name emerge from India’s domestic wilderness?

This one is less looking forward to, more watch in mild amusement. Nothing screams the confluence of the American political right and a combat sport that caters to that spectrum wholeheartedly more than a bevvy of mixed martial art title fights on the lawn of the White House.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), whose president Dana White campaigned for Donald Trump, will be holding a fight event with some of the best fighters in the world clamouring over each other to be a part of the event under the eyes of the American president. In a year filled to the brim with a FIFA World Cup, a T20 World Cup, a Commonwealth and an Asian Games, as well as multiple World Championships, nothing like a little break from serious sport to watch modern-day gladiators appease their ruling overlords in 2026.

When Kedar Jadhav, former India batter, screamed “Ghar ma ghusi ne maris” in Gujarati when his former team Chennai Super Kings beat Gujarat Titans a few years back in the IPL final in Ahmedabad, it brought a smile. Hope floated that the cricket commentary in various regional languages would also take the next step beyond amusement and offer insightful commentary. They – be it Tamil or Bhojpuri – have certainly catered to the people who aren’t that comfortable with English or Hindi, but the real letdown has been the English and Hindi commentary over the years. Will 2026 change that?

Some of the players who joined the commentary world in the last decade have been more or less disappointing. It’s time they move beyond parochialism and mind-numbing cliches. This is not to say that they need to get too serious and ‘boring’. A look at Pakistan’s A Sports, fronted by Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, can be a good example of how to marry fun with insight.