The India men's national volleyball team represents India in international volleyball competitions. It is managed by the

Volleyball Federation of India The Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) is the governing body of volleyball in India. History The Volleyball Federation of India was formed in the year 1951. Prior to the formation of the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI), the game was co ...

and is currently sponsored by

Sahara India Pariwar Sahara India Pariwar (''pariwar'' being Hindi for "family") is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The group operates business sectors such as finance, infrastructure & housing, real estate, sports, power, ma ...

and Asics. The Indian volleyball team has had a rollercoaster ride in its history. Although they have never qualified for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, they have appeared in the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

twice. Despite having little to no presence at the world stage in its history, the team has enjoyed some success at the continental level by clinching a silver medal and two bronze medals at the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

. After the decline post 1980s, the team has fared well at the recently introduced

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the contin ...

competition, receiving a silver and a bronze medal so far.

History

Pre-Independence

Though the game was played informally for a long time, the first interstate volleyball tournament was held in 1936 by the

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bhāratīya Olaṃpika Saṃgha'') is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international spor ...

(IOA).

Establishment

In 1951, the formation of

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.

Golden years (1952–1962)

India had immediate success after formation as they made their debut in

FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship The FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship is an international volleyball competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of ' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The initial gap between championships was variab ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

edition. After losing to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

by comfortable 3–0 margins in the first round, they made a comeback in the 7th–8th placing round as they beat

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

to clinch the 8th spot. 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 The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games () and commonly known as Tokyo 1958 (), were a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958. It was governed by the Asian Games Federation. A total of 1,820 athletes repr ...

. They beat Hong Kong and the Philippines in three straight sets but could not get past volleyball powerhouses

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, though they managed to win a set against each. In the

1962 Asian Games The 1962 Asian Games () also known as the 4th Asian Games, IV Asiad, and Jakarta 1962, were the fourth edition of pan-Asian multi-sport event sanctioned by the Asian Games Federation (AGF). The games were held from 24 August to 4 September 1962, ...

they managed to go one step ahead as they began their campaign with four consecutive wins against

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

(twice), Cambodia and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Their old rivals

got the better of them in what was a five set thriller, with

winning the final set by 15–12 margin. This team was led by legendary players Nripjit Singh Bedi and A. Palaniswamy, both

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

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

The finest era (1960s–1980s)

After a memorable outing at the

, India finished fourth and fifth at the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

Asian Games respectively, not making it to the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

edition in between. India did not enter into the inaugural Asian men's volleyball championship in 1975 but made their debut in the following tournament in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

where they finished fifth. In the

1978 Asian Games The 8th Asian Games (), also known as Bangkok 1978 (), were held from 9 to 20 December 1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems. Then Islamabad, ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

and at the

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games (), also known as Delhi 1982 (), were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olymp ...

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 South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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. In the

1986 Asian Games The 1986 Asian Games (), officially known as the 10th Asian Games and the X Asiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1986 (), were held from 20 September to 5 October 1986, in Seoul, South Korea. The venues and facilities of the 10th Asiad were the sa ...

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. All of them were

Arjuna award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards given for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjun ...

ees but the most special of them all and the team's lynchpin was the talented

Jimmy George Jimmy George (8 March 1955 – 30 November 1987) was an Indian volleyball player and captain of the Indian national volleyball team. Often dubbed the God of Indian volleyball, he is considered as one of the greatest volleyball players of all ti ...

, 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. 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. All of these factors combined well together and the Indian volleyball team started the Asian Games with four victories – against

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, Saudi Arabia and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Later in the games, they went down to the home team

, who went on to register another victory later, but in between the Indian volleyball team finally managed to beat powerhouses

, 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

, to end up with bronze medal.

Decline (1990s–2000s)

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 The India men's national cricket team, also known as Men in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is a full member nation of the International Cricket Council with ...

as a powerhouse. The Indian volleyball men and

women's team A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

s dominated the

South Asian Federation Games The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, N ...

in the nineties, winning three medals each, but it did not spark a revival, with subpar performances to follow at the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

by the men after they came at ninth and sixth respectively. 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

and then went down to

in third place match losing with a margin of three sets to one.

2010–present

The

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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, Sube singh and Mohan Ukkrapandian leading the way. The team also played at the

, 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

in the group stage, the top Asian team

in the semi-final before succumbing to

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 2010 South Asian Games, officially the XI South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event that took place from 29 January to 8 February 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the South Asian ...

. 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 The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports ...

, 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. 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 The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

. The

Pro Volleyball League Pro Volleyball League (PVL) was a professional men's indoor volleyball league in India. The inaugural season took place in February 2019. The league was an initiative between the Volleyball Federation of India, Head Digital Works Pvt. Ltd. anB ...

, a franchise-based tournament was started in 2019 and it featured 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 The South Asian Games is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among athletes from South Asia. The South Asia Olympic Council, which was formed in 1983, governs it. The Games consist of seven countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, N ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. The men's Indian volleyball team did not qualify for the

Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics, Games of the XII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1964 Summer Olympics, Games of the XVIII Olympiad * 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an ...

following their loss in the Olympic qualification tournament. The team finished sixth in the

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

, China. They topped their group, scoring an upset 3–2 victory over favourites South Korea.

Notable players and past squads

* Mohan Ukkrapandian * Balwant Singh * Riaz Ahmed * Abdul Basith *

K. Udayakumar Karunakarakurup Udayakumar was an India men's national volleyball team player known for his allround skills at offence and defence and a member of the Indian volleyball team during what many consider as the golden era of Indian volleyball. A fo ...

* Cyril C. Valloor * Shyam Sunder Rao * A. Ramana Rao * Tom Joseph * G. E. Sridharan * Anup D'Costa *

K. J. Kapil Dev K. J. Kapil Dev is an Indian volleyball player from Varkala, Trivandrum. He represented India in many international competitions. Kapil also led the Indian National Volleyball Team on a number of occasions, including the ''Rashid Memorial Inte ...

Tilakam Gopal T. Gopal (Gopal Tilakam) (born 20 August 1941 - 18 December 2012) was a former volleyball player from India. He captained the India national team at the 1966 Asian Games. Overview In the Inter-Civil Services All India Tournaments, Gopal rep ...

* Naveen Raja Jacob * Suresh Kumar Mishra * A. Palanisamy * R. K. Purohit * Yejju Subba Rao * T. P. Padmanabhan Nair

Managerial history

HP Kohli was considered as the best coach Indian Volleyball team ever had. HP Kohli coached Indian Volleyball team during its golden era of 1950s to 1970s. He expired on 13th Jan, 1980 due to cardiac arrest. Achutha Kurup was considered as the master tactician who guided India to its last medal at the

. Kurup was appointed in 1982 ahead of

in Delhi, but what brought him fame was a bronze medal in

four years later. Besides the medal in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Kurup was also at the helm when the Indian team won the silver in an international tournament in Japan in 1989. Shyam Sunder Rao was appointed as the coach of Indian volleyball team after his success with the Junior national team. With his eyes set on a medal in the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games, officially known as the XIV Asian Games and also known as Busan 2002 (), were an international multi-sport event held in Busan, South Korea from September 29 to October 14, 2002. Due to schedule impediments the football tour ...

, Sunder Rao's side missed an opportunity to end India's medal draught at the

since 1986, as they missed a place in the semi-finals by one point. However, the team went on to beat

and

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

to finish fifth in the tournament.

Current technical staff

Results and schedule

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

2025

:2025 CAVA Nations League ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Current squad

The following list consists of 12 players who are called for

. Head coach: Jaideep Sarkar

Competitive record

Summer Olympics

India has never qualified for the summer Olympics.

FIVB World Championship

India has appeared in the FIVB World Championship only twice. 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.

Asian Games

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. 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

. Since then, India has seen a decline in its performance and hasn't won a medal yet.

Asian Championship

India has appeared in the finals for 18 times out of 21. Their highest ever finish being in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

when they ended up at the fourth place.

Asian Cup

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

in the preliminary stage,

in the semi-finals before losing to

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.

AVC Nations Cup

The Indian Ad-Hoc Committee did not allow the Indian team to participate in the 2023 tournament. As a result, India still played their matches, but the results of the matches was forfeited as requested by the Indian Ad-Hoc Committee.

CAVA Nations League

Lusofonia Games

India won its first gold medal at the

Lusofonia Games The Lusofonia Games () was a multinational multi-sport event organized by the ACOLOP, which involves athletes coming from Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries. Most countries competing are members of the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Lan ...

in the 2014 edition.

South Asian Games

India is the most successful team at the

having won an overall number of nine gold medals and two silver medals.

Notes

References

{{AVC men's teams Volleyball in India National men's volleyball teams

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Men's sport in India