India men's national volleyball team

Though the game was played informally for a long time, the first interstate volleyball tournament was held in 1936 by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).[3]

In 1951, the formation of Volleyball Federation of India gave the sport a better structure and the interstate tournament evolved into the senior national championship with the first edition being held in 1952. This platform gave birth to many talents who went on to represent India at the international level.[4]

India had immediate success after formation as they made their debut in FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship's 1952 edition. After losing to France and Czechoslovakia by comfortable 3–0 margins in the first round, they made a comeback in the 7th–8th placing round as they beat Finland, Lebanon and Israel to clinch the 8th spot.[3]

In 1955, India won the Asian Volleyball Tournament which was held in Tokyo. Three years later, the Gurudev Singh led team won the bronze medal at the 1958 Asian Games. They beat Hong Kong and the Philippines in three straight sets but could not get past volleyball powerhouses Iran and Japan, though they managed to win a set against each.[5]

In the 1962 Asian Games they managed to go one step ahead as they began their campaign with four consecutive wins against Burma(twice), Cambodia and Pakistan. Their old rivals Japan got the better of them in what was a five set thriller, with Japan winning the final set by 15–12 margin. This team was led by legendary players Nripjit Singh Bedi and A. Palaniswamy, both Arjuna Award winners, who had graduated to the senior team, which was then led by TP Padmanabhan Nair, who was also a part of the 1958 team. India has to settle for the Silver Medal which is currently their highest achievement ever at the Asian Games.[3]

After a memorable outing at the 1962 Asian Games, India finished fourth and fifth at the 1966 and 1974 Asian Games respectively, not making it to the 1970 edition in between.[3]

India did not enter into the inaugural Asian men's volleyball championship in 1975 but made their debut in the following tournament in 1979 where they finished fifth. In the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok and at the 1982 Asian Games at home in New Delhi, the Indian volleyball team saw another upswing after finishing seventh and fourth respectively, falling just short of a medal in 1982 edition after they finished at the bottom of the table among four teams in the final round, going down to the heavyweights South Korea and China in straight sets.

In the following year at the Asian Volleyball Championship in Tokyo, India finished fifth yet again without any medal. However, the wait for a medal would not last too long.[3]

In the 1986 Asian Games India sent arguably its best team ever. Led by Cyril Valloor, the team boasted the presence of former national coach GE Sridharan, K Udayakumar, who later went on to captain the Indian volleyball team, Abdul Basith, Dalel Singh and PV Ramana, father of Indian badminton star PV Sindhu.[3]

All of them were Arjuna awardees but the most special of them all and the team's lynchpin was the talented Jimmy George, an Arjuna winner himself and a legend of Indian volleyball. He had been tearing up the national circuit for a decade and also had stints at clubs in Italy, one of the best leagues in that era, along with GE Sridharan.[6]

Jimmy George towered at a height of 6’2" and had the advantage of graceful jumps. His ability in the air for a fraction of a second longer helped him in his smashes, all of which were very powerful thanks to his larger frame.[6]

All of these factors combined well together and the Indian volleyball team started the Asian Games with four victories – against Hong Kong, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.[5]

Later in the games, they went down to the home team South Korea, who went on to register another victory later, but in between the Indian volleyball team finally managed to beat powerhouses Japan, more impressively in straight sets, facilitated by Jimmy George's tremendous drive. However, they could not sustain the momentum, as they fell to eventual champions China, to end up with bronze medal.[5]

The general popularity of the sport in the country declined in the years to follow as in-fighting within federations coincided with the death of Jimmy George in an accident in 1987 and adding to it was the rise of the Indian national cricket team as a powerhouse.[7]

The Indian volleyball men and women's teams dominated the South Asian Federation Games in the nineties, winning three medals each, but it did not spark a revival, with subpar performances to follow at the 2006 and 2010 by the men after they came at ninth and sixth respectively.[3]

However, they finished fourth in the 2005 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship which is currently their highest ever finish at this tournament. They went all the way to semi-finals where they lost in straight sets against Japan and then went down to South Korea in third place match losing with a margin of three sets to one.

The 2010 and 2014 editions of the Asian Games provided some respite as the Indian volleyball men's team finished a respectable fifth with modern-day stars and inspirational captains Sinnadu Prabhagaran and Mohan Ukkrapandian leading the way.[8] The team also played at the Asian Cup, where they achieved some fine results, capturing bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Cup and reached all the way to the final of the 2014 Asian Cup by defeating Japan in the group stage, the top Asian team Iran in the semi-final before succumbing to South Korea with a margin of three sets to one. Besides couple of good performances at the Asian level, the team also managed to claim a gold medal at the 2010 South Asian Games.

The Indian volleyball men's team was ranked 34th in 2014, their best in the world, they also managed to win a gold medal eighth gold medal at 2016 South Asian Games, but just as it seemed that the sport was picking up again, an internal dispute in the VFI meant that it was banned from the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) for two years till 2018.[9]

It meant that Indian volleyball players could not travel to other leagues to play, which affected the exposure to different styles, a factor which coach GE Sridharan felt led to a 12th place finish at the 2018 Asian Games.[9]

However, things are looking up again. The Pro Volleyball League, a franchise-based tournament was started in 2019 and it was a resounding success, made more memorable by the appearance of stars like American David Lee, an Olympic gold medallist in 2008. India also gained their ninth and seventh successive gold medal at the South Asian Games in 2019.[3][10]

Though the men's Indian volleyball team won't be in Tokyo following their loss in the Olympic qualification tournament, with the renewed interest in the sport thanks to the new franchise league, the nation could see the upswing in the next few years.[3]

T. R. Arunchalam, S. L. Gupta, Bharatan Nair, T. P. Padmanabhan Nair, Abdur Rahman, Raman Raman, S. K. Sheikuchan, Gurdev Singh. Coach: H P Kohli, Kuldip Chand Chopra (Delhi, UT)

Nripjit Singh Bedi, Tilakam Gopal, Joseph, Jai Karan, Khalid, Munnalal, T. P. Padmanabhan Nair, A. Palanisamy, Des Raj, Jaswant Singh. Coach: HP Kohli

Jimmy George, K. Udayakumar, Kirtesh Kumar, Sukhpal Singh, Mehar Singh, GE Sridharan, Sandeep Sharma, P. V. Ramana, Dalel Singh, Abdul Basith, Cyril Valloor

G. R. Vaishnav, Kamlesh Khatale, Karthik Ashok, Prabagaran, Hardeep Singh, Naveen Raja Jacob, Gurinder Singh, reyant, Jerome Vinit Charles, Mohan Ukkrapandian, Ranjit Singh, Pattani Prabakaran

Amit Gulia, Vinit Kumar, Shameemudheen Ammarambath, Muthusamy Appavu, Hari Prasad Bevinakuppe Suresha, Rohit Kumar, Manoj Lakshmipuram Manjunatha, Mohan Ukkrapandian, Ashwal Rai, Santhosh Sahaya Anthoni Raj, Guru Prasanth Subramanian Venkatasubbu, Erin Varghese

The following is the 2022 Indian national team roster, called up for 2020 Summer Olympics qualification.[20]
Head coach: G.E. Sridharan

No.	Name	Date of birth	Height	Weight	Spike	Block	2020/21 club
1	G K S Ammal Akhin	24 May 2001	2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)	97 kg (214 lb)	362 cm (143 in)	340 cm (130 in)	Kerala
2	Amit Balwan Singh	25 April 1998	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	76 kg (168 lb)	346 cm (136 in)	338 cm (133 in)	Haryana
4	Ranjit Singh	19 July 2002	1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	330 cm (130 in)	322 cm (127 in)	Punjab
5	Gagan Kumar	29 July 2000	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	346 cm (136 in)	329 cm (130 in)	Haryana
6	Kamlesh Khatik	7 October 2000	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)	82 kg (181 lb)	310 cm (120 in)	290 cm (110 in)	Rajasthan
7	Nihal Jadav	13 March 2003	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)	51 kg (112 lb)	345 cm (136 in)	335 cm (132 in)	Gujarat
8	Ajithlal Chandran	14 February 1996	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	69 kg (152 lb)	345 cm (136 in)	333 cm (131 in)	Kerala
9	Sinha Deepesh Kumar	25 March 1995	1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)	80 kg (180 lb)	352 cm (139 in)	328 cm (129 in)	Chhattisgarh
10	Midhun Kumar Balasubrahmanyam	24 March 1994	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	65 kg (143 lb)	320 cm (130 in)	300 cm (120 in)	Tamil Nadu
12	Jerome Vinit Charles	26 June 1992	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	349 cm (137 in)	340 cm (130 in)	Tamil Nadu
16	Mohan Ukkrapandian	15 May 1986	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	89 kg (196 lb)	333 cm (131 in)	325 cm (128 in)	Tamil Nadu
17	Shon Thanghalathil John	5 January 1997	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	81 kg (179 lb)	360 cm (140 in)	345 cm (136 in)	Kerala
19	Ashwal Rai	2 February 1995	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	87 kg (192 lb)	360 cm (140 in)	345 cm (136 in)	Karnataka
20	Karthik Ashok	24 January 1995	1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)	83 kg (183 lb)	354 cm (139 in)	345 cm (136 in)	Karnataka

India has never qualified for the summer Olympics.[21][22][23]

Summer Olympics record							Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	L		Pld	W	L
1964	did not qualify						–
1968
1972
1976	did not enter						did not enter
1980	did not qualify						5th
1984							5th
1988							5th
1992							10th
1996–2008							did not qualify
2012							3	0	3
2016							Did not qualify
2020							3	0	3
2024	TBD						TBD
Total	0/15						6	0	6

India has appeared in the FIVB World Championship only twice.[24] They came really close to qualifying in the 2002 qualifiers, missing a place in the World Championship by one spot as they finished third among three best second placed finishers.

FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship record							qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	L		Pld	W	L
1949	did not enter						–
1952	7th–8th placings	8th	6	3	3
1956	21st–24th placings	21st	5	3	2
1960	did not enter
1962
1966							did not enter
1970
1974
1978
1982	did not qualify						6	5	1
1986							7	5	2
1990							6th place
1994	did not enter						did not enter
1998
2002	did not qualify						3	2	1
2006							5	2	3
2010							6	3	3
2014							6	5	1
& 2018	Suspended						Suspended
2022	did not qualify						No Asian qualification were held
Totals	2/19	8th	11	6	5	20	12	8

During the initial years, India had an immediate success as they clinched 2 bronze medals and a silver medal in their first 7 Asian Games' campaign.[25]

Following a bronze medal in 1986 Asian Games, India did not participate in the next two tournaments due to the controversy in the Federation and the death of Jimmy George.[26] Since then, India has seen a decline in its performance and hasn't won a medal yet.[27]

Asian Games record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	L
1958	Group stage	Bronze Medal	4	2	2
1962	Final round	Silver Medal	7	6	1
1966	Final round	4th	8	5	3
1970	did not enter
1974	Classification 5th–8th	5th	5	3	2
1978	Classification 7th–12th	7th	5	3	2
1982	Final round	4th	5	3	2
1986	Final round	Bronze Medal	8	5	3
1990	did not enter
1994
1998	Classification 7th–8th	7th	5	3	2
2002	Classification 5th–6th	5th	6	4	2
2006	Preliminary round	9th	4	3	1
2010	Classification 5th–6th	6th	8	5	3
2014	Classification 5th–6th	5th	8	4	4
2018	Classification 11th–12th	12th	6	2	4
2022	Classification 5th–6th	6th	5	3	2
Totals	13/16	Runners-up	84	51	33

India has appeared in the finals for 18 times out of 21.[28] Their highest ever finish being in 2005 when they ended up at the fourth place.

Asian Men's Volleyball Championship record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	L
1975	did not enter
1979	Classification 5th–8th	5th	6	5	1
1983	Classification 5th–8th	5th	7	5	2
1987	Classification 5th–8th	5th	8	5	3
1989	Classification 5th–8th	6th	8	5	3
1991	Classification 9th–12th	10th	5	2	3
1993	Classification 9th–12th	9th	5	3	2
1995	did not enter
1997	Classification 9th–12th	9th	9	6	3
1999	Classification 9th–12th	9th	8	6	2
2001	Classification 5th–8th	7th	6	2	4
2003	Classification 5th–8th	5th	9	6	3
2005	Semi-finals	4th	7	4	3
2007	Classification 9th–12th	9th	10	9	1
2009	Final round	9th	8	6	2
2011	5th–8th semi-finals	6th	6	3	3
2013	5th–8th semi-finals	7th	7	3	4
2015	9th–12th semi-finals	11th	6	3	3
2017	Suspended
2019	5th–8th semi-finals	8th	9	2	7
2021	9th–12th semi-finals	9th	7	4	3
2023	Classification 7th–12th	11th	5	2	3
Totals	19/22	4th	136	81	55

India has done well in the recently introduced Asian Cup competition, qualifying for it three times. Their highest ever finish came in the 2014 edition where they beat old rivals Japan in the preliminary stage, Iran in the semi-finals before losing to South Korea in the final. They had to settle for a silver medal which extended their wait for a gold medal at the Asian level since their formation.[29][30]

Asian Men's Volleyball Cup record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	L
2008	did not qualify
2010	3rd place match	Bronze Medal	6	3	3
2012	3rd place match	4th place	6	2	4
2014	1st place match	Silver Medal	6	4	2
2016	did not qualify
2018
2022	Classification round	10th place	4	1	3
Totals	4/7	Runners-up	22	10	12

India is the most successful team at the South Asian Games having won an overall number of nine gold medals and two silver medals.[31][32]

Year	Position
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1999
2004
2006
2010
2016
2019