India at CWG 2026: Which Sports Are On, and Which Are Missing
If you have spent ten minutes hunting for a hockey pool table or a squash draw and found nothing, the page is not broken. The 2026 Games are deliberately smaller than the ones Indian audiences grew used to. This Dhani Game guide sets out what is on the programme, what is not, and how to turn the official timetable into a watchlist that works in IST.
Quick answer
2026 is a reduced Games. The announced programme is built around a small core of sports in a compact venue cluster, and several disciplines Indian fans follow closely — including hockey, squash, shooting, wrestling, badminton and table tennis — are not on it. We do not publish medal forecasts; for entries and session times, use the official Games schedule.
Why the 2026 Programme Looks So Different
The 2026 edition was rebuilt at short notice after the originally announced host withdrew. Rather than cancel, the movement staged a scaled-back Games designed around venues that already existed, which meant cutting the sport count sharply and clustering competition into a handful of arenas.
That decision is the single fact that explains almost every confused search this month. A Games with a third of the usual sport list is not comparable to 2018 or 2022, and neither is any nation’s position on the table — a point we go into in the medal tally ranking explainer.
The Announced Core Programme
The published sport list centres on the following, with para events integrated into the same programme and the same medal table:
| Sport | What Indian viewers should know |
|---|---|
| Athletics & para athletics | The largest medal pool of the Games. India has produced individual Commonwealth champions here before, including the 2018 javelin title. |
| Swimming & para swimming | Multiple finals per evening session, so the tally can move quickly in a short window. |
| Weightlifting & para powerlifting | Historically one of India’s strongest Commonwealth sports. See our weightlifting scoring guide. |
| Boxing | A long-standing Indian medal sport. Two bronzes are generally awarded per weight class. |
| Judo | Returned Indian medals at the 2022 Games. Repechage rounds mean a beaten quarter-finalist can still reach a bronze. |
| Artistic gymnastics | Artistic only — distinct from rhythmic and trampoline, which is why a search for the wrong discipline returns nothing. |
| Track cycling & para track cycling | Velodrome events only, not road racing. A different discipline set from the one most Indian cycling coverage follows. |
| Bowls & para bowls | A traditional Commonwealth sport with a strong following in the host nations. |
| Netball | A single team gold, decided over a full tournament rather than one session. |
| 3x3 basketball & wheelchair 3x3 | Short-format basketball; the whole competition runs across a compressed schedule. |
Event counts and the final discipline list are set by the organisers and can be revised, so treat the table above as orientation and confirm details with the Commonwealth Games Federation.
The Sports That Are Not There
This is the section most Indian readers actually arrived for. Several disciplines that delivered a large share of India’s medals at recent Commonwealth Games are absent from the reduced 2026 programme — among them field hockey, squash, shooting, wrestling, badminton and table tennis.
None of that reflects on the athletes. It reflects a programme built to fit a small number of existing venues on a compressed timeline. But it does have a practical consequence worth stating plainly: with a different set of events on offer, comparing India’s 2026 position against 2022 or 2018 is comparing two different competitions. Historical context on how the Games have changed shape between editions is collected on Wikipedia’s Commonwealth Games page.
If a sport you are searching for returns no draw, no pool table and no start list, the most likely explanation is that it is simply not being staged — not that you are looking in the wrong place.
Building an IST Watchlist
Scotland sits several hours behind India during the northern summer, which reshapes the viewing day:
- Local morning heats land in the Indian afternoon and early evening — the most watchable window for most people.
- Local evening finals, where most medals are decided, fall late at night or after midnight IST.
- Medal ceremonies follow the final, so the tally updates later still.
Build the list from the official session schedule and convert it yourself for the exact date. Third-party “IST schedule” pages are frequently built once and never corrected when a session moves, and a moved session is the most common reason someone sets an alarm for the wrong hour. The habits that stop that happening are in our guide to following live results and the medal tally.
On “Medal Hopes” as a Phrase
Every preview season produces confident numbers, and almost none of them survive contact with the competition. We will not publish a projected total or a projected finishing position, because there is no honest basis for one. What is useful is knowing which sessions matter, which disciplines India is entered in, and where to read the result the moment it is official. If the wait between those sessions needs filling, our between-the-action games guide and the Dhani Game instant lottery page explain what a one-minute round involves — a game of chance, unconnected to any sporting result.
Play responsibly
Dhani Game is not a sportsbook. We do not offer betting or odds on the Commonwealth Games, and nothing here predicts a result. Our games are games of chance for entertainment; outcomes are random and most stakes are lost. 18+ only. Decide a limit before you play, read about problem gambling if play stops feeling comfortable, and see our responsible gaming page. Real-money gaming rules vary by Indian state.