India, July 10: India’s prolonged struggle to make a mark in international volleyball stems less from a lack of talent and more from an absence of vision, planning and quality competition, according to Dronacharya Award-winning coach G E Sridharan, who believes the national team must regularly face Asia’s elite if it hopes to return to the medal stage at major events.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the Volleyball Champions League, the 72-year-old former India player and veteran coach delivered a sharp assessment of the current state of Indian volleyball. Sridharan said the country continues to underachieve at the continental level and remains outside the circle of serious contenders for medals at the Asian Games, qualification for the World Championships and a berth at the Olympics because the system has failed to create a competitive pathway for players.
At the heart of his criticism is India’s scheduling pattern and the quality of opposition the team frequently encounters. Sridharan argued that Indian players are not being challenged often enough because they spend too much time playing lower-ranked teams in the region instead of testing themselves against Asia’s leading volleyball nations. In his view, that has directly hurt India’s ability to grow tactically, mentally and physically at the highest level.
Sridharan pointed out that countries such as China, Japan, Iran, South Korea and Qatar have built strong volleyball cultures by consistently competing at a high standard and by exposing their players to pressure situations against world-class opponents. Those are the nations, he said, India should be targeting for friendly series, invitational tournaments and sustained bilateral engagements if the objective is to build a side capable of challenging for honours.
His remarks carry weight because they come from one of the most respected figures in Indian volleyball. Sridharan was part of India’s bronze medal-winning team at the 1986 Asian Games, the last time the country reached the podium in men’s volleyball at the continental showpiece. He also later established himself as one of India’s most accomplished coaches, earning the Dronacharya Award for his contribution to the sport. Drawing from his own experience, Sridharan said India’s success in the mid-1980s was not accidental. It was the result of deliberate preparation, repeated exposure to top opposition and a willingness to compete against stronger teams even at the risk of losing.
Recalling the build-up to the 1986 Asian Games, Sridharan said the Indian team had played close to 20 matches against some of the strongest teams in Asia, including China, Japan and Iran. Those matches were difficult and often ended in defeat, but they also provided invaluable lessons. According to him, that process toughened the squad, sharpened its systems and eventually gave the players the confidence to beat higher-ranked sides when it mattered. He sees that period as proof that Indian volleyball can rise again if the right competitive structure is put in place.
Sridharan’s central argument is that India already has the raw ingredients to become a formidable volleyball nation. He believes Indian players possess physical advantages such as height, agility and speed, while also showing a natural understanding of the game. In his assessment, the issue is not the absence of ability but the failure to convert potential into consistent results through planning, exposure and professional execution. He suggested that Indian volleyball has repeatedly missed opportunities to build on moments of promise and has lacked the strategic continuity needed to move from isolated performances to sustained excellence.
One of the biggest concerns he highlighted is the shortage of international matches for the national team. Sridharan stressed that preparing for a major event like the Asian Games cannot be reduced to a short training camp or a handful of fixtures. He argued that a team aiming to compete seriously at the continental level should ideally enter a major tournament after playing 30 to 40 international matches in the lead-up period. Those games, he said, are critical for building combinations, refining match awareness, handling pressure and understanding how different systems operate at the top level.
Without that exposure, players are left underprepared when they step onto the court against stronger opponents. Sridharan believes this gap is one of the main reasons Indian teams often look competitive in patches but struggle to sustain performance through an entire tournament. The challenge, in his view, is not just technical but also psychological. Teams that regularly face elite opposition learn how to absorb setbacks, adjust during matches and maintain composure in crucial moments. Those habits are difficult to develop in domestic competition alone or in regional fixtures against weaker sides.
His comments also point to a broader structural issue in Indian volleyball: the absence of a long-term roadmap. Sridharan said progress in the sport cannot depend on short bursts of enthusiasm or isolated initiatives. It requires coordinated planning involving the federation, coaches, administrators, sponsors and players. International exposure has to be treated as a strategic necessity rather than an optional extra. Talent identification must connect with elite training, domestic leagues must align with national team goals, and international competition calendars should be built with a clear purpose.
The launch of the Volleyball Champions League, where Sridharan shared his views, could become an important moment in that process if it is developed with seriousness and vision. A professionally run domestic league has the potential to improve standards, bring visibility to the sport, attract commercial investment and create a more competitive environment for Indian players. But Sridharan’s warning suggests that domestic reforms alone will not be enough. A league can raise the profile of the game and strengthen the talent pool, but the final leap in performance will still depend on how often Indian players face the best teams in Asia and beyond.
India’s recent record in volleyball underlines the urgency of that challenge. While the country continues to produce talented players and remains a respected name in parts of Asian volleyball, it has not translated that potential into podium finishes at the highest level. The gap between India and Asia’s leading teams has widened over the years as other nations have modernised their systems, invested in sports science, built strong domestic structures and maintained a steady stream of high-level competition for their national squads.
Sridharan’s observations are therefore not merely nostalgic reflections from a former player recalling a golden era. They amount to a practical blueprint for revival. His message is that Indian volleyball does not need to reinvent itself from scratch; it needs to rediscover the habits that once made it competitive. That means seeking out difficult contests rather than avoiding them, accepting short-term defeats as part of long-term development, and building a calendar that exposes players to the pace, power and tactical sophistication of Asia’s top teams.
For Indian volleyball, the road back to relevance may be demanding, but Sridharan insists it is far from impossible. The country still has the athletic base, the technical promise and the passion to compete at a higher level. What it lacks, he argues, is a system willing to push its players into the environments where real growth happens. Until that changes, India’s ambitions of returning to the Asian Games podium, qualifying for the World Championships or earning an Olympic berth are likely to remain unfulfilled.
His intervention serves as both a critique and a challenge. If administrators, coaches and stakeholders are serious about reviving Indian volleyball, the next step cannot be limited to celebrating domestic events or talking about untapped potential. It must involve a concrete commitment to international competition, stronger preparation cycles and a long-term strategy that places Indian players in direct confrontation with Asia’s best. Only then, Sridharan believes, can India hope to transform promise into performance and restore its standing in the continental game.