Following a successful 2025, the upcoming year will bring massive opportunities for Indian prodigy R. Praggnanandhaa, who has qualified for his second straight Candidates.
The Candidates will serve as an all-important showdown to determine Gukesh’s challenger; could it be his compatriot?
With Praggnanandhaa being the lone Indian representative at the Candidates, he carries the hopes of the country’s chess fanatics who fancy an all-Indian World Championship final.
– Mayank Chaudhary
Paddlers to go up a gear
Ayhika Mukherjee is a proven big occasion Table Tennis star, and Ankur Bhattacharjee is spoken about as the next big talent coming through in the sport, with a massive potential. Ayhika took an Asian Games medal at the last edition alongwith Sutirtha Mukherjee in doubles with a sensational run at Hangzhou, and followed it up with eye-popping wins on the Contender and Smash circuit, even scalping the Chinese World No 1. Ankur is said to be in possession of an audacious attack that can disrupt hierarchies like when qualifying for China Smash from 0-2 down, pulling off jaw-dropping aggression in clutch finishes. Though he’s not really had a breakthrough big ‘Games’, 2026 will be about the two A’s, the two rising paddlers, to see how far they can go.
– Shivani Naik
Youth to emerge at Asiad
Three-time World Cup champion and World Cup Final champion Suruchi Phogat will be eying a title in this year’s Asian Games where shooting powerhouses China, Korea as well Iran will be in contention in pistol disciplines. If Phogat books her place in the Indian team, it will be her maiden Asiad. Apart from that, world champion Samrat Rana, who became only the fourth Indian to win the worlds title, will be eying his maiden continental Games too. Apart from that, how the Indian wrestlers like World Championship medallist Antim Panghal will be eying a medal in Japan, a world powerhouse in wrestling. Badminton talents like Unnati Hooda, Anmol Karan and Tanvi Sharma, too, will be ones to watch and the 2026 edition will set the ball rolling for the young Indians ahead of the 2028 LA Olympics.
– Nitin Sharma
A long-awaited Test
When India plays a Test against England on July 10, it will be more than just another fixture. They have played only 10 Tests in England, having toured the country six times since 1986. But those visits rarely came with the chance to experience the game at iconic venues. 2026 will be different. For the first time, India’s women’s team will play a Test at Lord’s, walking out in whites in arguably the most famous ground in the world. The match won’t be about the result, as much as it would be about how far women’s cricket in India has come despite limited chances. As the players pass through the Long Room, they will carry the dreams of those who played before them in tougher times – and finally, a sense of arrival.
– Shankar Narayan
Will a German bring it home for England?
England’s tryst with the World Cup, or any big international football tournament really, is a source of pain for those supporting the side and of comedy bordering on schadenfreude for practically everyone else.
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And so, the drama – and renditions of ‘It’s comin’ home’ – happen all over again is a good reason to look forward to the English campaign in particular in the 2026 World Cup. The other reason, of course, is the fact that it is a German in Thomas Tuchel who is their manager this time around. His appointment was met with a lot of shocked gasps in the country’s football talkosphere; If England actually manage to go all the way, it will be interesting to see how those attitudes change.
– Rohit Mundayur
Duopoly solidified or broken?
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner broke through as the best players in the world in 2024 and consolidated their place in 2025. Will they be forced to consider someone else their equal in 2026?
As much as the two players enthralled with their three successive Major finals – one an all-time classic – the latter half of the year was marked by the haywire nature of the competitive group, unable to go up another gear and contend. It begs the question: who is ready to challenge their supremacy? Will it be the perennial nearly man Alexander Zverev, or will someone like a Ben Shelton or Jack Draper go from pretender to contender? Perhaps the wily GOAT Novak Djokovic will mount another late-career surge. Tune in for the Australian Open in a few weeks to get a first hint.
– Namit Kumar
Arsenal’s time at last?
2025 has been the year when a lot of teams who were going through a drought finally ended their wait for silverware. From Crystal Palace’s first title in 119 years to Newcastle’s first in 70; from PSG finally breaking the Champions League duck to Tottenham clinching silverware for the first time since 2007.
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So, will 2026 be the year for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal to finally lift the elusive Premier League trophy, a first in 22 years?
The Gunners have always been the proverbial bridesmaids for the last couple of seasons with Arsenal finishing second to Liverpool and Manchester City in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. But with shrewd signings of Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi, among other additions, this campaign will be a make or break season for Arteta and his men.
– Sayak Dutta