Former India hockey skipper and Olympian Viren Rasquinha is confident that while India’s medal tally will take a hit due to the truncated number of disciplines at the Commonwealth Games, starting in Glasgow on July 23, the nation’s position in the medals table should be similar to last time’s finish at Birmingham 2022, fourth place. The quadrennial showpiece event was initially scheduled to be held in Victoria, Australia, but after they suddenly backed out in 2023 citing escalating financial projections, Glasgow stepped in. 

But given the sudden shift and quick turnover, the list of sports was cut short from 19 to 10, including para events. The sports that have been included are athletics, swimming, track cycling, 3x3 basketball, lawn bowls, netball, artistic gymnastics, judo, weightlifting, and boxing.